A woman who deliberately drove over two individuals in River North, pursuing one with her vehicle and trapping another against a gas pump, has received a nine-year prison sentence.
Rolanda Wilder, 57, admitted to two counts of attempted murder and one count of aggravated battery. In return, Judge Laura Ayala-Gonzalez sentenced her, requiring her to serve 85% of the term.
Following the incident on April 6, 2024, the CPD initially stated that the driver “lost control of her vehicle” and hit a woman on the sidewalk, then a man outside a gas station. However, this was not the case.
Prosecutors revealed that shortly before 4 p.m., Wilder intentionally struck a 29-year-old woman on the sidewalk at the 200 block of West Chicago Avenue. The woman reported attempting to avoid the car, but Wilder steered her Toyota RAV4 directly at her.
Wilder then proceeded to the BP station at 750 North Wells Avenue, exited her SUV, and assaulted a 19-year-old woman from Bloomington by punching her in the face multiple times, according to prosecutors. Afterward, she had a verbal altercation with a 58-year-old man outside the station. Subsequently, she returned to her SUV, drove into the man, and pinned him against a gas pump, resulting in two broken ribs, as per the CPD report.
Wilder left the SUV again and began to walk away. A witness stopped her and restrained her until police arrived and arrested her.
With time served in Cook County Jail, Wilder is anticipated to be released in November 2031.
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