MORRIS – Drunken driving charges have been upgraded against a man involved in the head-on collision early Sunday that took the life of a St. Charles woman.
Police say Joe D. Olvera Jr., 32, of Oak Lawn, was driving drunk in the early hours of June 14 when his SUV struck a vehicle driven by Meagan E. Ahlstrom, 24, of St. Charles, just north of Morris, near the Grundy County Fairgrounds.
Olvera now faces two counts of aggravated DUI – both Class 2 felonies, prosecutors said Thursday.
Grundy County State's Attorney Sheldon Sobol said Thursday that he upgraded a lesser DUI count against Olvera. Police cited Olvera for DUI immediately after the crash.
He said Olvera is expected to surrender to Grundy Sheriff's police as soon as he's released from Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where he was taken after the crash.
A hospital spokeswoman did not return phone calls Thursday to check on Olvera's condition and pending release.
A warrant for his arrest lists Olvera's bail at $500,000, Sobol said.
Olvera also is cited with failure to wear his seat belt, improper lane usage, operating a motor vehicle without proper insurance, and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.
Sobol said police continue to investigate the crash, which could net additional charges against Olvera.
The victim and her mother, Rebecca Ahlstrom, also of St. Charles, were returning home from Tennessee when the southbound Olvera vehicle crossed over the center line on Illinois 47 and struck the northbound auto driven by Meagan Ahlstrom.
Ahlstrom was a student at the University of Tennesee.
She was pronounced dead at the scene at 4:45 a.m. Sunday.
Both Rebecca Ahlstrom and Olvera were taken to Morris Hospital & Healthcare Centers. Ahlstrom was later transferred to Delnor Hospital in Geneva and later released.
• Chronicle reporter Kate Thayer contributed to this report.
