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Dozens of sheriff's officers held an early morning vigil today outside Cook County Jail as police continued to question a suspect in a hit-and-run crash that killed a colleague as she was about to begin her overnight shift there.

White candles lined the area near where Nikkii Bostic-Jones, 38, was struck while crossing California Avenue near 29th Street just before 11 p.m. Wednesday. Police said she was hit by a navy blue van with stolen license plates and knocked into the path of a sheriff's squad car and pinned underneath it.

Late Thursday afternoon, police found a van matching the description and took a 55-year-old man into custody. The man, who has a history of traffic violations, lives near the jail, a source said.

Scott J. Bratlien, the superintendent of the jail's Division 10 where Bostic-Jones worked, described her as a dedicated officer known for her warm personality.

"A couple of the officers. . . said they started their shift each day with a hug from her, and that's what they're going to miss the most. She was just one of those people," Bratlien said. "She did her job, never complained, helped out and got the job done."

Bostic-Jones worked 13 years with the Cook County sheriff's office, 12 of them as a correctional officer and a year as a social worker.