States Attorney
St. Charles Woman Sentenced to 3 ½ Years for Aggravated DUI Fatality
WHEATON - DuPage County State’s Attorney Joseph E. Birkett announced today that Judge Michael Burke sentenced Kimberly Flad, 51, (d.o.b. 9/17/1955) of 233 Sedgewick, St. Charles, to 3 ½ years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for an accident that claimed the life of George Shirkey also of St. Charles. Flad entered a blind plea of guilty to one count of Aggravated DUI in front of Judge Burke on February 21.
The sentence stems from allegations that on April 27, 2006, at approximately 11:45 p.m., Glendale Heights Police Officers, while parked in a commercial parking lot on North Avenue, heard the sound of a vehicle breaking and then a crash. The police then observed the defendant’s westbound vehicle cross over a raised median and continue westbound in the eastbound lanes. Police pursued and immediately pulled over the vehicle. An investigation into the accident revealed that the vehicle, driven by Flad, hit a motorcycle driven by George Shirkey. Shirkey was taken from the scene by ambulance and pronounced dead a short time later. The investigation also revealed than Flad had been drinking alcohol prior to the accident.
“This sad case is yet another example of the dangers of drinking and driving,” commented Birkett. “Nearly one year ago, Kimberly Flad’s life changed forever when she made the decision to drink and then get behind the wheel of her car. That decision cost George Shirkey his life and cost Mrs. Flad her freedom. Drunk driving accidents are not accidents, they are one hundred percent avoidable. The message is simple, if you have been drinking, don’t drive. Call a friend or a taxi for a ride home. You will be glad you did when you arrive home safely, instead of in jail or worse, in the morgue.”
State’s Attorney Birkett praised the members of the Glendale Heights Police Department for their outstanding efforts in the investigation of this matter.
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