SUV driver charged after Lake in the Hills woman injured in Algonquin hit-and-run

An SUV driver accused in a Saturday night hit-and-run crash that seriously injured a pedestrian has been charged with multiple felonies after the passenger in the vehicle identified him to authorities, Algonquin police announced in a news release.

The pedestrian, a 25-year-old woman from Lake in the Hills, was walking across the street in a crosswalk about 9 p.m. at Route 62 and South River Road when a “small dark SUV” hit her and left the scene, police said. When police arrived, the woman was lying in the street. She was taken to Northwestern Medicine Huntley Hospital, according to a news release.

She was listed in stable condition Sunday, according to the release.

Officers investigating the crash gathered information that led them to the 500 block of North Harrison Street, Algonquin, where they found a dark-colored Chevrolet SUV in the parking lot of a multi-tenant complex. The SUV had damage consistent to the reported hit-and-run crash, police said.

A woman told police she was a passenger in the SUV involved in the crash and identified Paul Epifanio, 38, of the 500 block of North Harrison Street as the driver, police said.

He was arrested on an unrelated outstanding warrant and taken to the Algonquin Police Department. There, he admitted to driving the vehicle involved in the earlier hit-and-run, police said.

Epifanio was charged with leaving the scene of crash with injuries, failure to report an accident, no valid driver’s license, improper use of registration, expired registration, failure to yield to a pedestrian at a crosswalk, failure to reduce speed to avoid a crash and unsafe tires.

Epifanio was transported to the McHenry County Jail for a bond hearing.

Following the crash Saturday, the inside lanes of Route 62 were closed for almost four hours, and traffic in both directions was allowed to pass using the outside lanes, police said.

The Kane County Accident Reconstruction Team assisted Algonquin police in investigating the crash. Algonquin police are asking anyone who witnessed the crash to call them at 847-658-4531.