Riverside

Woman Charged After Striking Girl, 10, in Hit-and-Run

Julia Ann Rastelli was charged with drunk driving after hitting a 10-year-old girl in suburban Riverside

It's hard to miss the bright neon signs alerting drivers that this is a school zone. Riverside police say that they did not stop 50-year-old Julia Ann Rastelli from barrelling through the intersection of Longcommon and Herrick Thursday and hitting a 10-year-old girl in the crosswalk, however. Police say Rastelli was drunk at 3 p.m. on a school day.

"There are a lot of kids, a lot of young families in the area," said Len Messner, who lives just up the road.

The intersection where the incident occurred is steps from a park and St. Mary's school and church.

Rastelli told police she had just picked up her 14-year-old daughter from Riverside Brookfield High School. The teen was riding in the car when police say Rastelli, who was talking on her cell phone, struck the small child. Cops say she then drove off. When witnesses tried to stop her, police say she denied hitting anyone.

"It's just someone being irresponsible and maybe someone that needs help," said Joseph Lagreco, a Riverside resident.

There was a crossing guard at the intersection helping students safely cross the street, but the Riverside police chief says the suspected drunk driver simply ignored the guard and the 10-year-old child and blew through the intersection anyway.

"The child was struck with such force that she rolled over the front of the SUV and landed on the concrete," Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel wrote in a statement.

Police say the child is okay and is at home with her parents.

Officers arrested Rastelli about a half mile from the scene. When she failed the field sobriety tests, she told police she had a mimosa earlier that day.

Rastelli is charged with felony aggravated DUI, disobeying a crossing guard, hit and run, using a phone while driving through a school zone, failure to yield, no car insurance and endangering the life of a child.

"That's horrible," Messner said. "It's unconscionable. I don't know what to say."

"That's all it takes, a second, even less than a second, and that timing could make a big difference in somebody getting hurt," Lagreco said.

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