Will Co. Deputy Attacked Near Wilmington During Traffic Stop: Sheriff

WILMINGTON — Karisa Heelan's decision to skip traffic safety school after pleading guilty a year ago to a Braidwood speeding ticket has snowballed into several felony charges for the 34-year-old Wilmington native. She recently spent three days inside Will County's Jail after attacking a Will County Sheriff's deputy who pulled her over, according to the criminal complaint.

This week, Heelan had a pretrial appearance at the Will County Courthouse, where she now finds herself facing three counts of aggravated battery and one count of resisting a peace officer.

According to Will County Sheriff's spokeswoman Kathy Hoffmeyer, the following events led to Heelan's arrest on March 28:

• While Will County deputies were on stationary patrol, they spotted a vehicle driving eastbound on Route 133, east of Interstate 55, with an entirely broken front windshield.
• Sheriff's deputies followed the vehicle and saw a single female occupant. A check of the license registration returned that the registered owner had a valid Will County warrant for a failure to appear traffic violation.
• The deputy saw the driver, who he believed matched the identity of the vehicle owner. He then conducted a traffic stop east of the Route 129/Stripmine Road intersection. The deputy spoke with the driver, who confirmed she was Karissa Heelan.

• Police said Heelan was advised of the warrant and upon being asked to exit the vehicle, she rolled up the window and locked herself inside while making a phone call.
• Heelan eventually opened the door, however, she would not exit, according to police.
• As the deputy attempted to assist Heelan out of the vehicle, police said she began yelling insults and became combative, striking and kicking the deputy.
• A Grundy County police officer arrived on the scene and assisted the Will County Sheriff's deputy in getting Heelan placed into handcuffs and secured inside the patrol squad, according to the sheriff's office.
• Heelan was arrested for aggravated battery to a police officer, resisting arrest, and was held on the active warrant, according to Hoffmeyer.

Back on April 14, 2023, Heelan pleaded guilty in front of Will County Judge Sherri Hale to the offense of speeding 21 to 25 mph over the speed limit, and Heelan was given 12 months of court supervision. The original citation and complaint from the Braidwood police officer indicates Heelan was cited for speeding 26 to 34 mph over the limit at 6:08 p.m. on March 12, 2023.

According to the ticket, Heelan was driving 88 mph in a 55-mph speed zone in a 2017 blue Nissan car along Coal City Road and Route 53.

At the time of her guilty plea, on April 14, 2023, her ticket was amended to say 80 mph in a 55 mph zone and her amended ticket became 21 to 25 mph over the speed limit, court documents show.

In their petition to revoke Heelan's probation on Feb. 23 of this year, the Will County State's Attorney's Office indicated that Heelan failed to appear in court, she failed to attend a victim impact panel and she failed to attend traffic school.

Back on Feb. 26, Will County Judge Sherri Hale signed the failure to appear arrest warrant for Heelan; that court document listed Heelan as residing on Cambridge Drive in the small community of Gardner. The warrant had geographic limitations, only applying to police officers in Will, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Grundy, Kankakee, LaSalle, Livingston and Cook.

Will County Jail records show that Heelan stayed in the Will County Jail on March 28-30. She was set free by a Will County judge under the SAFE-T-Act, because Heelan is not charged with a detainable offense, according to her pretrial release order.