Recently in DUI in the News Category

On Tuesday night, a Chicago fire truck accident was reported as the truck headed to a call in the West Pullman neighborhood on the Far South Side. As Engine Number 62 approached an intersection at Halsted and 128th streets, another car appeared to stop to let the firetruck pass.

After stopping, the car then inexplicably sped up into the fire truck’s path. The fire truck was unable to stop in time and broad-sided the car. Ten people were hurt in the accident including three children and four firefighters, reports the Chicago Tribune.

Nicholas Sord is accused of a fatal DUI that killed his girlfriend Jessica Mejia. Sord, the 23-year-old son of Southland entrepreneur Bryan Sord, was allegedly drinking and on opiates at the time of the accident. He faces aggravated driving under the influence and reckless homicide charges.

On January 1, 2010, Sord and Mejia were apparently celebrating the New Year and went to several bars. It’s not clear if Sord was drunk on alcohol, but at the time of the accident he was also taking opiates. It’s alleged that this combination of drugs and alcohol contributed to the crash that killed Mejia, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.

This weekend's Chicago DUI may be more memorable for what happened after the arrest than what led up to the arrest.

Santa Ana Zuloaga-Campuzano was found asleep inside his Ford Expedition which was parked on a median on 115th Street at South Doty Avenue in the Riverdale neighborhood, reports the Chicago Tribune. When police woke him up, they found that he was surrounded by empty beer cans. When asked what he was doing, the 30-year-old gave the somewhat responsible answer that he was too drunk to drive and decided to pull over so that he would not be a danger to anybody.

Did you know that the Super Bowl is the eighth-highest beer-selling occasion of the year? Given the number of Budweiser commercials every Super Sunday, this is probably not a huge surprise.

As the Super Bowl now ranks up there with New Year’s Eve, and other traditional beer guzzling weekends, the Kane County police announced they are stepping up patrols for Super Bowl DUI on February 5, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.

The ongoing DUI trial of Cecil Conner finally ended with the 24-year-old man denied a new trial and sentenced to nine-and-a-half-years in jail for the drunk driving death of Michael Langford Jr.

In May 2010, Conner was the passenger in girlfriend Kathie LaFond's car when they were pulled over after leaving a party. In the backseat of the car was LaFond's 5-year-old son, Michael Langford Jr., reports the Chicago Sun-Times. LaFond was eventually arrested for driving on a suspended license, and Conner was allegedly told to drive the 5-year-old home.

Thomas Gatz says the last thing he remembered the night he drove drunk and crashed into two cars, was taking two Ambien pills and going to bed.

The 44-year-old former firefighter from Shorewood says that he doesn't remember drinking and doesn't remember getting in his car, let along striking two women, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. This appeared to be a good enough defense, as a Will County judge only sentenced Gatz to two years of conditional discharge, avoiding jail time completely.

Arsenio Garcia must have friends in high places if he was only charged with a misdemeanor DUI after his drunk driving escapade this weekend.

On Saturday night, a concerned citizen alerted police to an erratic driver and possible drunk driver who was driving down alleyways in the city’s Northwest side, reports the Chicago Tribune. After police caught up with the driver, later identified as Garcia, they saw him go the wrong way down a one-way street in the Belmont Gardens neighborhood.

The aggravated DUI trial of Chicago cop Richard Bolling has begun, and the police officer has said he was not drunk at the time of the fatal accident that killed 13-year-old Trenton Booker.

Bolling is accused of roaring through a South Side neighborhood two years ago in his Dodge Charger, and hitting the teen who was riding his bike. The collision was so severe that the boy is said to have spun in the air like a propeller before hitting the pavement and dying, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.

Concluding one of the stranger (and sadder) DUI stories from last year, earlier this week Angus Lake decided to plead guilty to aggravated driving under the influence resulting in death.

For the charge, Lake could face 14 years in jail, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. However, that may be a small price to pay compared to the personal losses that the man suffered.

In one of the funnier DUI arrests of the nascent New Year, Walter Dixon was arrested for a McDonald’s drive-thru DUI in the River North neighborhood.

Dixon and a passenger allegedly passed out from drinking too much while waiting in the Rock ‘n’ Roll McDonald’s drive-thru lane. After officers woke the two up and asked them if they needed medical attention, they responded “no,” but that they did want another McDonald’s sandwich, reports the Chicago Tribune. But what happens next is where it really starts getting comical.