Police: Driver Used Heroin Before Fatal Waukegan Crash

WAUKEGAN, Ill. (STMW) -- A Wisconsin man who was allegedly driving under the influence of heroin and told police he had no memory of the incident has been charged with murder in a Waukegan crash Friday afternoon that killed one pedestrian and left another injured.

Aaron B. Stoen, 26, of Twin Lakes, Wis., was driving near Sunset Avenue and Oneida Road on Waukegan's north side about 12:30 p.m. when his vehicle went out of control, jumped the curb lane and hit two pedestrians, Waukegan police said in a release issued Saturday.

Both of the pedestrians were taken to Condell Health Network in Libertyville, where one of them died early Saturday morning, according to the release.

The other was seriously injured but is expected to survive, police said. The Lake County Coroner's officer is withholding the victims' identities pending notification of their families.

Investigators found heroin and drug paraphernalia in Stoen's vehicle, police said. Stoen later provided a statement saying that he used heroin before the crash, but that he remembered nothing of the incident, according to the release. He suffered minimal injuries in the crash, police said.

Stoen was charged with two counts of aggravated DUI--great bodily harm, one count of aggravated DUI--death, one count of reckless homicide and several other traffic and drug offenses, police said. His driving privileges in Wisconsin and Illinois were also revoked.

Stoen appeared in bond court Saturday morning, where Judge Theodore S. Potkonjak ordered him held in lieu of $500,000 bond, police said. His next court date is scheduled for Nov. 15.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)