A Little Village man with a history of DUIs was sentenced to 10 years in prison Friday for a hit-and-run accident that claimed the life of a Cook County correctional officer who was crossing the street to go to work at Cook County Jail.
Juan Bello, 58, pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of a deadly accident for the July 2012 crime, according to court records.
Nikkii Bostic-Jones, 37, was thrown onto the road and pinned under a sheriff’s car when she was hit by Bello ’s van as she crossed the street outside the jail.
The married mother of a little girl died a short time later at an area hospital.
Bello fled the scene, but a witness was able to give authorities a description of the Chevy van and a partial license plate number.
Bello was arrested the next day when he pulled up to his residence, in the 2900 block of West 25th Street.
A witness told investigators that Bello had been drinking alcohol shortly before the incident, Cook County prosecutors said at the time. The machine operator was allegedly driving to work, the same route he has taken for two to three years.
Bello ’s Illinois driver’s license was revoked in January 2010 for a DUI arrest in Iowa in Sept. 2009. He was eligible to get his license back in January 2011 but never applied, according to a spokesman for Secretary of State Jesse White. Bello also received court supervision for a 2002 DUI from La Salle County.
