State Coroner Charged With DUI:

Will County deputy coroner Eryn Gray was arrested on suspicion of a DUI after wrecking her car earlier this month, the Suburban Chicago Herald-News reports. She also was charged with resisting arrest and cited for a few other traffic violations, police reports indicate.

While Ms. Gray does not seem to be disputing the facts surrounding her case, her alleged comments to the arresting officer suggest a belief that she is immune from such laws.

While struggling against officers trying to handcuff her, she reportedly yelled the following to the arresting officer:

"Don't you know who I am? I'm a deputy coroner."

Of course, it doesn't (or shouldn't) matter who she is so long as the police had reasonable cause to stop her vehicle and were able to collect enough evidence for her arrest. Her Illinois DUI attorney may try to strike that comment from the official record; but if not, it just may be used against her in court.

But her alleged defiance didn't end there.

Reporters say she refused sobriety testing and also resisted attempts to fingerprint or photograph her (her mug shot following the incident accompanies the Herald-News article). And reports also indicate that she was generally uncooperative with county jail staff.

Also, she allegedly told one officer that Coroner Patrick O'Neil "will call and have your job" and warned other officers that she is "politically connected." But Ms. Gray is getting little love from her supervisors, who have placed her on paid administrative leave while the sheriff's department conducts an investigation into the incident.

Reporters say it wasn't made clear just how she is politically connected and she did not return calls requesting comments.

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