Lyons DUI Driver Pleads Guilty in Crash That Put Child in Coma: Police

Riverside, IL - A Lyons woman pleaded guilty May 10 to aggravated drunken driving involving a crash and great bodily harm for 2015 collision that put an 8-year-old boy into a medically induced coma.

Cynthia L. Grosse, 67 of the 4100 block of Elm in Lyons, was sentenced to 15 months in prison and credit for 270 days served, according to Riverside police.

Once released, she must serve at least 85 percent of three years of mandatory supervised release.

“The young man who was struck while riding his bicycle in front of his home has made a full recovery after being listed in critical condition at Loyola University Medical Center after the initial crash," said Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel in a statement. "My main concern along with my department staff was for the young man’s recovery, and that has happened. I am extremely grateful that the young man has recovered and back to enjoying life.”

The Riverside child was hit Sept. 14, 2015, in the 300 block of Eastgrove, and police found him unconscious and bleeding heavily, police reported. Paramedics performed advanced life support and took the boy to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood. He was placed in a medically induced coma to reduce brain swelling.

Police found Grosse sitting on the curb, crying. She smelled of alcohol and seemed confused, police reported. She told police she was on her way to Lyons from Oak Park when she hit the child. Grosse failed field sobriety tests, and she was arrested for DUI.

Grosse was an elderly caretaker. She'd been in La Grange Park that day, and she said she drank two or three beers while taking care of an elderly disabled person. Then she drove to visit a friend at an elderly care facility in Oak Park, where she continued to drink alcohol. She left Oak Park and drove through Riverside on her way home. Police said she acknowledged drinking beer while driving.

Riverside officers found open beers and cups containing alcohol in her car after the crash.

Grosse had a prior DUI arrest in 1986 in Cook County.

Photo courtesy of Riverside police.