A Chicago woman has pleaded guilty to crashing her car into a bicyclist while driving under the influence in River North in exchange for a sentence of probation and community service. The victim, who was severely injured, had been released from prison just four months earlier after serving time for killing a woman in a DUI crash.
Kristen Levasseur, now 26-years-old, turned herself in to Chicago police after investigators identified her as the person responsible for striking the man as he bicycled in the 400 block of West Grand on June 25, 2019.
Police said Levasseur, a bartender, failed to stop or call 911 after she struck 32-year-old Michael Albers as he and another cyclist rode westbound around 1:15 a.m. She had her car’s damaged windshield and passenger-side mirror replaced later the same day to conceal the accident, police alleged in an arrest report.
Albers suffered severe head injuries and was expected to experience long-term brain damage from the crash, according to police. The woman who was cycling with Albers at the time of the collision was not injured.
Levasseur has now pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated DUI causing injury or death and leaving the scene of an accident involving injury or death. Judge Neera Walsh sentenced her to four year’s probation and 480 hours of community service on each count. Walsh ordered the sentences to be served concurrently.
Albers, the victim, was paroled almost exactly four months before the crash after serving most of the ten-year sentence he received for a fatal DUI crash in suburban Antioch Township.
According to an archived Chicago Tribune story, Danielle Trevithick was 22-years-old when Albers slammed head-on into her vehicle, killing her instantly at 1:30 a.m. on Aug. 12th, 2010. A detective testified that Albers was driving 86 miles per hour in a 40-mph zone with a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit, the Tribune reported. Albers, who was ejected from his SUV, and his two passengers were airlifted to hospitals.
”I now realize how fast dumb decisions can affect me as well as others,” Albers said in an apology to Trevithick’s family at the time of his sentencing.
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