A Savoy resident was charged with three felonies on Monday in connection with a hit-and-run incident that occurred early Sunday morning outside of Joe’s Brewery on the 700 block of South Fifth Street, which left a 20-year-old man from Gibson City hospitalized.

Brendan Trumann, a 19-year-old from Savoy, was charged with aggravated reckless driving, aggravated DUI and leaving the scene of an accident. Trumann faces a maximum of 22 years in prison if found guilty.

Around 2 a.m. on Sunday, Trumann was asked to leave the bar for being disruptive and after arguing with other patrons and bar staff, he allegedly produced “a weapon that appeared to be a handgun” and pointed it at others, according to an email statement from Joe Lamberson, interim assistant to the Champaign police chief.

Trumann then went to his vehicle, a 2020 Dodge Charger, and began driving erratically in the street, the statement said.

The 20-year-old victim, who was apparently acquaintances with Trumann, approached Trumann’s vehicle and attempted to calm him. However, when a fight broke out, the victim was pulled away and struck in the face by an unknown assailant.

“As Trumann sped away from the melee, he ran his vehicle over the victim on two separate occasions,” the statement said.

According to the charging documents, Trumann allegedly “accelerated his Dodge Charger causing the wheels to ‘burn out’ and smoke,” and drove forward when the victim was lying on the ground.

When police arrived at the scene, they found the victim still lying in the road and rendered aid.

Trumann’s vehicle was later found abandoned at the scene of a traffic accident at Mount Hope Cemetery near the intersection of Sixth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, causing damage to several headstones. Police found a replica BB gun on the floor of the vehicle.

This led the University Police Department to send a series of Illini Alerts early Sunday morning, warning people to avoid the area around the cemetery.

“An Illini Alert is used whenever we have an event that poses an imminent threat to the safety of the campus community,” said Pat Wade, communications director for UIPD. “In this case, it was ‘avoid the area,’ because we thought we may have had an armed person in the campus area.”

Trumann was found near his apartment later in the day on Sunday and was arrested by CPD. 

At his arraignment on Monday, Trumann’s bond was set at $600,000, and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on July 20. 

The individual who struck the victim in the face has yet to be identified, and the case remains under investigation.

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