Officer charged with felony DUI after woman struck in Belmont Heights

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Bond was set at $100,000 for a Chicago police officer charged with a felony DUI in a crash that critically injured a pedestrian in Belmont Heights.

Officer Erin Mowry, 40, was off-duty when he crashed his 1997 Mercedes near Belmont and Olcott avenues around 1:20 a.m. on July 18, prosecutors said. His vehicle struck a woman, identified by relatives as Courtney Still, who was crossing the street.

Still had just gotten off a CTA bus at Belmont and was in the crosswalk when she was struck. The impact sent her airborne and she landed on her head, hitting the pavement.

Still was taken to Loyola University Medical Center in critical condition. She is no longer in a medically-induced coma, but is not responding, her family said. Prosecutors said doctors are uncertain whether she will survive.

"The defendant admitted he had been drinking earlier in the evening and he did not see the victim," Assistant State's Attorney Lorraine Scaduto said.

Mowry's blood alcohol level, which was measured more than four hours after the crash, was .092, prosecutors said.

Mowry was originally charged with misdemeanor DUI, ticketed and relieved of his police powers during the Chicago Police Department's investigation. Those charges were upgraded to aggravated DUI with great bodily harm.

"While I am pleased that the correct charges have been filed in this case, I am also saddened that now two families lives have been destroyed by someone who thought it was OK to drink and drive. Not just someone, but a police officer who knows what the laws are. I pray for his family and the anguish they must be going through, as well as for my daughter who may or may not make it through this," Kathy, Still's mother, said through a statement.

Mowry, a two-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department, turned himself in.

"His thoughts are not so much on himself," defense attorney Dan Herbert said. "They truly are on the victim."