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Woman Still in Coma after Crash with Allegedly Drunken Driver

By Erin Meyer | April 2, 2013 5:44pm | Updated on April 3, 2013 9:52am
 Mareo T. Nutall, 32, was driving on a suspended license Sunday when his car hit a disabled car on South Lake Shore Drive and put its driver in a coma, prosecutors said.
Mareo T. Nutall, 32, was driving on a suspended license Sunday when his car hit a disabled car on South Lake Shore Drive and put its driver in a coma, prosecutors said.
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Chicago Police Department

COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE —  Allegedly drunk and behind the wheel again, Mareo Nutall slammed into a disabled vehicle on Lake Shore Drive, sending a woman to the hospital in a coma, prosecutors said.

The 52-year-old Grand Crossing woman was calling her daughter and AAA for help when Nutall, driving a Black Yukon, rear-ended her minivan in the 4500 block of South Lake Shore Drive around 11 p.m. Sunday, according to Cook County prosecutors and court records.

Found at the scene by emergency responders with no pulse, the woman was rushed to Northwestern Memorial Hospital with extensive injuries, including brain trauma, Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Lorraine Scaduto said. She has not regained consciousness.

The accident was the second serious accident on Lake Shore Drive in little more than two weeks that authorities have attributed to drinking and driving.

North Chicago Police Officer Terrell Garrett allegedly was drunk when he killed two young men on March 15 in a wrong-way crash on Lake Shore Drive. Garrett, 35, was charged with two counts of aggravated DUI and two counts of reckless homicide.

Nutall, 32, should not have been driving at all. Scaduto said his license is suspended pending a January arrest for DUI.

In the more recent incident, Nutall is charged with two felony counts of aggravated DUI, one count for causing an accident or bodily harm and a fourth count for driving on a suspended or revoked license.

Nutall, of the 3500 block of West Arthington Street, repeatedly denied drinking the night of the accident but ultimately admitted to "drinking three beers," according to court records.

A Cook County Judge ordered Nutall held on $150,000 bond Tuesday.