Law and Order, Local Police Reports, Park Forest

Gary Woman Charged with Aggravated DUI After Allegedly Speeding on Monee Rd.


Park Forest, IL-(ENEWSPF)- A Gary, Indiana woman was charged with aggravated DUI, a felony, when an officer allegedly clocked her driving 37 mph over the 30 mph speed limit on Monee Road.

An officer was conducting stationary radar near Monee Road and Tamarack Street on January 17 at 10:56 PM when he saw a gray SUV traveling north on Monee Road. His radar unit displayed that the vehicle was allegedly traveling 67 mph in a 30 mph zone, according to police.

The officer conducted a U-turn and got behind the vehicle, a gray Chevy Equinox with Indiana registration, and activated his patrol vehicle’s emergency lights. The vehicle subsequently pulled over in the area of Monee Road and Niagara Street, according to police.

The officer approached and asked the driver, who was identified as Hannah L. Klemoff if she was okay. Ms. Klemoff responded that she was. She allegedly told the officer that she was getting off work and needed to use the bathroom and apologized for speeding, according to police.

While speaking with Ms. Klemoff, the officer did not smell an odor of alcohol on her breath but noticed that when she spoke, she spoke softly and slowly, according to the officer’s report.

The officer asked for Ms. Klemoff’s driver’s license and vehicle insurance. Ms. Klemoff said that she had a driver’s permit out of Indiana and handed it to the officer and provided proof of valid insurance. With assistance from SouthCom Dispatch, the officer confirmed that Ms. Klemoff did not have a driver’s license but only a permit out of Indiana.

Another officer arrived to assist.

The first officer at the scene asked Ms. Klemoff to exit her vehicle and she complied. Since the Chevy would be towed on an administrative seizure, police conducted an inventory search of the vehicle’s contents. While searching the Chevy, the reporting officer smelled an odor of burnt cannabis inside. Inside the center console, the other officer found a Ziploc bag containing a green leafy substance, suspect cannabis, and another Ziploc bag containing several burnt rolled-up tobacco papers containing a green leafy substance, suspect cannabis. The green leafy substance was later tested and was positive for cannabis, according to police. The reporting officer also found a small Ziploc bag inside Ms. Klemoff’s purse containing three pink and green gummies. Police later allegedly learned from Ms. Klemoff that the gummies contained cannabis, according to police.

The first officer at the scene transported Ms. Klemoff to the Park Forest police station. Upon arrival, the officer administered Standardized Field Sobriety Tests in the lockup area, according to police. According to the report, Ms. Klemoff showed a “lack of smooth pursuit in both eyes,” “showed nystagmus prior to 45 degrees in both eyes,” and “showed distinct and sustained nystagmus at maximum deviation in the
left eye but not the right eye.” “Nystagmus” is “where the eyes move rapidly and uncontrollably,” according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology. According to FieldSobrietyTests.org, “When someone is intoxicated by alcohol and/or certain drugs, this jerking becomes more pronounced. As such, the horizontal gaze nystagmus test is used by law enforcement agents to evaluate an individual’s nystagmus in order to determine if probable cause exists for a drunk-driving arrest.” We do not offer this information to allege anything about Ms. Klemoff’s situation, but to explain why the language appears in the report.

Ms. Klemoff submitted a breath sample with a result of .000. She also consented to submit a urine sample and was provided a specimen cup, according to the officer.

The arresting officer contacted the Will County Felony Approval office and related circumstances of the case to an Assistant States Attorney who advised the officer to charge Ms. Klemoff with aggravated DUI drugs, a felony. Furthermore, the ASA advised that the officer should wait to charge Ms. Klemoff with any additional DUI charges until the results of her urine test returned from the lab.

Ms. Klemoff allegedly told police that she smoked cannabis daily but denied smoking cannabis on that date in her vehicle, according to police. She allegedly said that on that day at approximately noon, she ingested cannabis at a home in Indiana and drove to work in University Park where she started her shift at 2 PM. She then allegedly told police that she had smoked cannabis in her vehicle prior to work, according to police. She said she was on her way home from work when she was stopped by police. She denied ingesting any other narcotics, according to police.

On January 18 at 3:05 AM, police transported Ms. Klemoff to Will County for a bond hearing, according to the report.

Hannah L. Klemoff, 30, 4649 Cleveland St., Gary, IN, on January 17 and charged with aggravated DUI, DUI drugs, aggravated speeding 35+, no valid driver’s license, and unlawful use of cannabis by a driver.

About Police Reports

Please note that we repeatedly say “according to police” in these reports and often use “allegedly.” We are not asserting in any way that those police arrested and charged committed any offenses. We report on what is in the reports that the police furnish to us. As those accused are innocent until proven guilty, the burden is on prosecutors and police to prove all alleged crimes.

eNews Park Forest has continuously published the addresses of those arrested and will continue to do so. 5 ILCS 140/2.15 states that the governmental body (for these reports, the Police Department), shall release information on those charged, including their name, age, and address. This information is necessary to ensure the proper identity of those arrested.

Presumption of Innocence

An arrest does not mean that a person is guilty. The law presumes all those whom police arrest are innocent until proven guilty. It is the policy of eNews Park Forest not to remove items from the public record from publication. Suppose you find your name in the police reports. Our policy is that we will only add information relevant to the final disposition of the case at hand, e.g., “Mr. Smith was subsequently acquitted,” “Mr. Smith entered a guilty plea,” or “All charges against Mr. Smith were subsequently dropped.” We will do so upon receiving and verifying proof of such disposition.

We do not strike, “unpublish,” or delete news.

Police captured all the incidents in this report on body-worn and dash-mounted cameras by officers at the respective scenes, according to police. All Park Forest police officers wear body-worn cameras. Officials typically abbreviate these devices as BWC in the reports.

We encourage persons wishing to leave anonymous information on any criminal matters, including narcotics or gang activity, to call the Park Forest Police Department Investigations Division at (708) 748-1309.


ARCHIVES