Former Will County board member charged with impaired driving after 4-vehicle crash in Plainfield – Shaw Local

A former Will County council member is facing impaired driving after she was involved in a four-vehicle crash last month in Plainfield, police said.

Ragan Freitag Pattison, 41, of Homer Glen, is set to be charged with impaired driving on September 22. The citations were changed to state the charges on Aug. 11, according to court records.

Pattison’s attorney, Paul Napolski, did not respond to a call Wednesday.

Pattison was a Republican from Wilmington who was first elected to the Will County Council in 2012 and re-elected in 2016. She then became the council’s chief of staff in 2017.

In 2018, when Will County board member Denise Winfrey, D-Joliet, was board chairwoman, she replaced Pattison with former prosecutor Moira Dunn as chief of staff.

Pattison recently served as President of the Citizens will elect Jeffrey Tuminello Committee. Tuminello is a prosecutor who won against Judge Derek Ewanic for the 12th Judicial Circuit, 5th Sub-Circuit in the June 28 general primary election.

Pattison is Director of State and Local Government Market for Wight and Company. The firm was the architectural firm for the new Will County Courthouse in Joliet.

The incident that led to Pattison’s arrest began around 10:04 p.m. on July 9, when police and paramedics responded to a crash involving four vehicles at the intersection of Route 30 and Renwick Road, the Plainfield Police Cmdr. said Anthony Novak.

Novak said the investigator determined that Pattison’s Jeep Grand Cherokee was the vehicle responsible for the crash. She was the driver and sole occupant.

A driver-occupied Dodge Nitro was stopped at a red light in the eastbound lane of Highway 30, Novak said.

A Hyundai Accent, also occupied by a driver, was stopped at a red light just behind the Dodge Nitro, Novak said. A Kia Forte, occupied by a driver and a passenger, was the third vehicle stopped at a red light behind the Hyundai Accent, Novak said.

Pattison’s vehicle hit the Kia Forte from behind, causing a chain reaction of vehicles to overturn the vehicle in front of them, Novak said.

A witness said the light was red when Pattison hit the Kia Forte, Novak said.

Plainfield Fire Protection District paramedics assessed everyone involved in the crash and signed all medical treatment denials, Novak said.

The officer who found Pattison at fault in the accident observed that Pattison had slurred speech, bloodshot eyes, an odor of booze on his breath, and stumbled while walking, which reasonably suggested that she was driving under the influence of alcohol. , says Novak

Pattison declined to participate in field sobriety tests, Novak said. She was later arrested for drunk driving, taken to the police department for booking and released, he said.

The officer’s ticket described road conditions as dry and visibility as clear at the time of the incident.