(CHICAGO) Police will be searching for drunken drivers Saturday night in the Austin District.
Officers will conduct DUI saturation patrols from 6 p.m. Saturday to 2 a.m. Sunday in the district’s area, Chicago Police said. Roving police officers will monitor traffic for signs of impaired driving, as well as for seat belt and speed violations.
A Breath Alcohol Testing Mobil Unit may also be deployed to allow officers to make the process of charging a person with DUI and issuing them an I-Bond faster.
A DUI saturation patrol last weekend on Lake Shore Drive resulted in one person charged with DUI and a total of 54 citations issued for driving violations, police said.
(CHICAGO) Police will be on the look out for drunken drivers Saturday night on Lake Shore Drive.
Officers will conduct DUI saturation patrols from 6 p.m. Saturday to 2 a.m. Sunday on Lake Shore Drive, Chicago Police said. Roving police officers will monitor traffic for signs of impaired driving, as well as for seat belt and speed violations.
A Breath Alcohol Testing Mobile Unit may also be deployed to allow officers to make the process of charging a person with DUI and issuing them an I-Bond faster.
A DUI saturation patrol last weekend in the Chicago Lawn district resulted in one person charged with DUI and a total of 122 citations issued for driving violations, police said.
(DEKALB) A west suburban man has been charged with DUI and reckless homicide for a crash that left one man dead Tuesday evening in DeKalb.
The four-vehicle crash involving a 2001 Chevrolet Silverado, a 1995 Ford F-150, a 2000 Ford Taurus and a 2002 Hyundai Elantra happened at 7:18 p.m. on Illinois Route 38 east of Peace Road, according to the DeKalb County sheriff’s office.
The driver of the Taurus, 18-year-old Johnathon R. Ode of DeKalb, was killed in the crash, the sheriff’s office said.
John A. Yanni III, who was driving the Silverado, was charged with two counts of aggravated DUI and one count of reckless homicide, the sheriff’s office said.
Yanni, 25, who lives in the 100 block of South 18th Street in St. Charles, was taken to Kishwaukee Hospital in DeKalb to be treated for his injuries before being transferred to the DeKalb County Jail, the sheriff’s office said. He is being held on a $1 million bond.
It was not immediately clear whether Ode’s passenger or any of the other drivers involved in the crash were injured.
(LINCOLNSHIRE) A 23-year-old man was woken up by police and charged with aggravated driving under the influence Tuesday in north suburban Lincolnshire, authorities said.
At 10:28 p.m., officers responded to a call of a possible intoxicated driver and suspicious car in the 400 block of Milwaukee Avenue, according to a statement from Lincolnshire police.
Officers found the dark-colored car running in a parking lot with two people passed out in the driver and front passenger seats, police said. After knocking loudly several times, an officer opened the unlocked door and was able to finally wake the two people.
An officer saw drug paraphernalia inside the car and arrested the driver, Kyle D. Buchschacher, police said. He was charged with 2 felony counts of aggravated DUI, a misdemeanor charge of possessing a narcotic instrument, and a misdemeanor charge of driving with a revoked license.
Buchschacher, of Lake Zurich, was taken to Lake County jail where he is being held on a $25,000 bond, police said. He is scheduled to appear at the Waukegan Courthouse 9 a.m. on Nov. 14.
By Adam Chappelle, WLS-AM 890 News (CHICAGO) A 41-year-old man has been charged in a DUI crash that killed a 31-year-old man and his daughter in south suburban Chicago Heights Sunday morning.
Police say Bill Brown was behind the wheel of a Nissan that T-boned a BMW near Chicago Road and Lincoln Highway around 8 a.m. Sunday. After the collision, the BMW burst into flames. Witnesses rushed to rescue the people inside, but were only able to save three children from the backseat.
The 41-year old man, identified by police as Jose Juan Romero, and his daughter, Maritza Romero, were pronounced dead at the scene.
(KANE COUNTY) An Illinois State Police trooper pleaded guilty Monday to being intoxicated while on duty last year in Kane County.
Trooper Paul A. Zurn pleaded guilty Monday to one misdemeanor count of DUI and was sentenced to one year of court supervision, according to a statement from the Kane County state’s attorney’s office. According to Illinois law, first-time misdemeanor DUI offenders are eligible for supervision.
On Aug. 22, 2015, Zurn responded to a minor traffic crash call on westbound Interstate 88 near Farnsworth Avenue on the afternoon of Aug. 22, 2015, prosecutors said.
When he arrived at the scene other troopers noticed Zurn, 34, was unsteady on his feet and found a bottle of alcohol inside his squad car, prosecutors said.
Zurn refused to submit a portable breath test, standardized sobriety tests and refused to take a breathalyzer test, according to the statement. As a result his driver’s license was suspended for one year by the Illinois Secretary of State.
Zurn, who has been an ISP member since 2008, was relieved of his police powers after the incident and immediately placed on a restricted duty status, according to a statement from ISP. On October 26, he was placed on unpaid administrative leave where he will remain while the internal investigation takes place.
“ISP Troopers are entrusted to uphold the law, and as such, must be held to the highest standards of personal conduct on and off duty,” ISP Director Leo Schmitz said in the statement.
In addition to his sentence, Zurn must undergo alcohol treatment, pay $2,185 in fines and attend a victim impact panel.
“The actions of a single officer do not reflect on the outstanding, selfless work by the men and women of the ISP who risk their lives daily to protect the motoring public,” Schmitz said.
(RIVERSIDE) Two men are facing drunken driving charges after a van hit a police car that was blocking traffic to investigate an earlier DUI crash early Sunday in west suburban Riverside.
Authorities were called to First Avenue and Wabaunsee Road at 4:13 a.m. after a Nissan car crashed into a tree and its driver was ejected into the forest preserve, according to a statement from Riverside police. Officers arrived to find the driver, 25-year-old Roman W. Matlak, lying on the ground “severely injured.”
About 10 minutes later, while officers were investigating that crash, a Chevrolet van driven by 37-year-old Gregorio Torres hit a North Riverside police car that was getting into position to block all southbound lanes of First Avenue at the Burlington Northern railroad overpass, police said. The van hit the rear of the squad car, causing it to spin 360 degrees, before continuing into the forest preserve and hitting a tree.
Torres and the North Riverside police officer who was in the squad car were both taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. Matlak was also taken to Loyola with serious injuries.
At the hospital, Matlak told officers he was coming home from a nightclub in Chicago and had been drinking heavily throughout the night before his crash, police said. He refused to have his blood drawn, but officers could “detect the odor of alcohol still emitting from his mouth and body” while he was being treated.
Matlak, who lives in the 3400 block of North Tripp, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, failure to reduce speed to avoid and accident, improper lane usage and driving too fast for conditions, according to police. He remained in the hospital as of Monday night.
Torres, who lives in the 7800 block of West 65th Place in Bedford Park, told investigators he had been out all night drinking after work and had “12 to 13 beers” before getting in his van to drive home, police said. He told them he saw the fully marked police car with its lights on, but that it was too late for him to stop.
He agreed to have blood and urine drawn by hospital personnel, who turned samples over to police as evidence.
Torres was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, failure to yield to an emergency vehicle and failure to have insurance, police said. He was also cited by North Riverside police for damage to village property for “extensive” damage to the squad car.
Torres was previously arrested for DUI at the same intersection on Nov. 3, 2004, police said.
Two men and a North Riverside police officer were injured after two crashes minutes apart early Sunday in Riverside. | Riverside policeTwo men and a North Riverside police officer were injured after two crashes minutes apart early Sunday in Riverside. | Riverside police
Two men and a North Riverside police officer were injured after two crashes minutes apart early Sunday in Riverside. | Riverside police
(CICERO) A Cicero man has been charged with driving under the influence of a controlled substance in connection with a crash in 2013 that killed a 3-year-old boy in the Archer Heights neighborhood on the Southwest Side.
Erick Ochoa, 24, has been charged with a felony count of aggravated DUI involving a death, according to a statement from Chicago Police. He was also cited for driving on a suspended license and failing to stop at a stop sign.
About 10:20 p.m. on July 20, 2013, 3-year-old Jimmy Lomas ran onto the street from between two parked cars and was struck by Ochoa’s vehicle, police said.
Lomas, of the 300 block of 27th Avenue in Bellwood, was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn where he was pronounced dead at 11:11 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Ochoa, of the 1300 block of South 50th Avenue in Cicero, was initially cited after the crash with failure to yield to a pedestrian in the roadway, but the investigation later determined he had been under the influence of a controlled substance, police said.
He was arrested Sunday after he was stopped for a traffic violation, police said. Ochoa is scheduled to appear in bond court Tuesday.
(BRIDGEVIEW) A man charged with DUI in connection with a southwest suburban crash that killed a 94-year-old woman has been ordered held on a $750,000 bond.
Patrick O’Connor, 29, is charged with aggravated DUI for the crash on Archer Avenue near 107th Street in unincorporated Lemont, according to a statement from the Cook County sheriff’s office.
O’Connor was driving a 2002 Mercury Sable westbound about 1:45 p.m. Friday when his vehicle crossed into eastbound traffic and struck a 2011 Subaru Outback, sheriff’s police said.
Brookfield resident Lillian Linduska, 94, was in the passenger seat of the Subaru, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. She was taken to an area hospital where she later died.
Both O’Connor and the driver the Subaru, a 66-year-old Downers Grove woman, were treated for minor injuries, police said.
Authorities claim O’Connor had consumed alcohol and had been administered methadone earlier that day.
He was also cited for driving too fast for conditions, failure to reduce speed, DUI and crossing the median, police said.
O’Connor, of Justice, was ordered held on a $750,000 bond at a hearing Sunday, police said. He will next appear in court April 14 at the Bridgeview Courthouse.
(RIVERSIDE) A Berwyn man is charged with DUI after he allegedly drove past a marked police car and through five consecutive red lights early Tuesday in west suburban Riverside.
An officer was on patrol in the 3200 block of Harlem Avenue at 3:18 a.m. when he saw a 2009 Nissan pass his police vehicle and fail to stop at five consecutive red lights, including a railroad crossing, according to a statement from Riverside police.
The officer pulled the car over and smelled alcohol from the car and on the driver’s breath, police said.
The driver, 30-year-old Erik Quiroz, failed a field sobriety test and was arrested for DUI, police said. He was also asked to do a Breathalyzer test, which showed his blood alcohol content as 0.183, more than twice the legal limit.
Quiroz, of the 2700 block of South Harvey in Berwyn, told officers he had been drinking at three separate bars and was on his way home when he was pulled over, police said. He also said he had been drinking beer while driving, and police found multiple open beer bottles in the driver’s seat.
Several passengers in the car were also intoxicated and were driven to their home in Berwyn by Riverside police.
“The fact that this defendant drove past a fully marked SUV police vehicle and blew five consecutive red lights in a row is just really indicative of how much alcohol he had in his system,” Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel said in the statement. “If he had not been stopped, he could have killed himself, the passengers in his car or an innocent motorist or pedestrian on their way to their early morning job.”
Quiroz is charged with two counts of DUI, five counts of disobeying a traffic control light, driving without insurance and possession of open alcohol by a driver, police said. After he was bonded out of the Riverside Police Department, he was transported to MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn for medical treatment.
(GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga.) A Chicago Bears player is facing felony charges after he was arrested for driving under the influence early Wednesday in Georgia, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
Cornerback Tim Jennings was arrested in Gwinnett County, Ga., on charges of DUI, speeding and reckless driving Wednesday.
According to records on gwinnettcountysheriff.com, Jennings was admitted at 12:44 p.m. Wednesday. The bond amount was set at $2,711.
Jennings, 31, as three years remaining on a four-year contract with the Bears.
The Bears signed Jennings as a free agent in 2010 after his first four seasons in the league with the Colts.
(RIVERSIDE) A man driving 99 mph in a 35 mph zone after leaving a New Year celebration in west suburban Riverside has been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, police said.
Miguel A. Ocampo, 20, of the 8100 block of West 30th Street in North Riverside, was charged with speeding, reckless driving, DUI, second count of DUI for the blood alcohol concentration, disobeying a traffic control light and not having vehicle insurance, according to a statement from Riverside police.
About 1 a.m. New Year’s Day, a Riverside police officer on patrol stopped a westbound 2006 Nissan four-door car near 27th Street and Des Plaines Avenue after it was seen disregarding a red light and traveling 99 mph in a 35 mph zone, police said.
When the officer, who was working the Illinois Department of Transportation DUI Enforcement Grant, approached the driver, identified as Ocampo, he noticed a strong odor of alcohol coming from his mouth and breath, police said.
Ocampo admitted drinking and was on his way home from celebrating the New Year at a party in Chicago, police said. A Breathalyzer test revealed he had a .13 blood-alcohol content, while the legal driving limit is 0.08.
Once in custody, Ocampo told the officer that he “wanted to see how fast he could get his car to travel in the shortest distance possible,” police said.
Police said he was “extremely belligerent and wanted to fight with police during his entire processing in the booking room at the Riverside Police Department.” He also told officers he had stolen the car, but the car was found to be owned by a relative who did not want to pursue charges even though the vehicle had been taken without consent.
“It is obvious that the funds distributed to local municipalities and police departments by the state to enforce DUI laws does pay dividends,” Riverside Police Chief Thomas said in the statement. “If this individual had not been stopped, he probably would have crashed his vehicle and either killed himself or killed and harmed others who were traveling home from their jobs or other holiday parties.”
