Hindsight is twenty-twenty; but the story of a 5-year-old boy killed in a car crash, as reported by the Chicago Tribune, will probably haunt Chicago Heights police for years to come. The child, Michael Langford Jr., likely would have made it home from the party he attended with his mother if the police hadn't intervened in the first place.
But again, hindsight is twenty-twenty and mistakes sometimes happen to the best of us.
However, this appears to have been a major error in judgment. Mother Kathie LaFond was taken into custody for driving on a suspended license after she was stopped by police at 2:35 a.m. for making an improper turn without a signal.
She was arrested, which is routine for someone driving without a valid license, but what happened next proved deadly. Police handed the keys to passenger Cecil Conner, to whom the car was registered, and he left with the small child asleep in the car seat. Perhaps the police should have asked why he wasn't driving his own car unless he was intoxicated.
In fact, Dane D'Andrea, who hosted the party, said Kathie LaFond was not drinking and was supposed to be the designated driver.
Cecil Conner's paperwork checked out and police said he "didn't seem drunk," although Steger police Chief Richard Stultz told reporters after the fact that his blood-alcohol level was three times the legal limit and he was under the influence of marijuana.
Chicago Heights police Chief Michael Camilli described it as a tragic event and said the arresting officer, who has been questioned, also was shaken up. But he stopped short of blaming anyone for the incident:
"The officer did not see any physical impairment nor did he smell any alcohol on the subject's breath. There was nothing that would lead him, or indicate, that this person was impaired."
Obviously Cecil Conner should have voluntarily told police that he was not fit to drive, but it will be interesting to see how his Illinois DUI lawyer handles this difficult case.
Related Resources:
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DUI - Arrest (FindLaw)
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Cops Gave Keys to Drunk Driver in Crash That Killed 5-Year-Old (Chicago Sun-Times)
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Contact a Chicago DUI Lawyer (FindLaw)
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