Recently in DUI Laws Category

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.

John Kohlbeck was arrested for a DUI back in 2008 for driving drunk into oncoming traffic in Elgin. He avoided a serious accident, but was apparently so drunk when he was arrested that he couldn’t even stand, reports the Daily Herald.

That arrest was the 43-year-old Kohlbeck’s third offense, and he faced felony DUI charges and a possible seven-year prison term. However, probation was also an option. He was ultimately convicted of the crime, but sentenced to only six months in jail and 30 months’ probation.

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.

Last summer we wrote about Saul Chavez, the DUI suspect who struck and killed insurance broker William McCann in his Logan Square neighborhood.

Chavez reportedly struck McCann so hard that he sent the 66-year-old insurance broker flying into his windshield. When Chavez hit the brakes, McCann fell to the ground. But instead of helping the fallen man, Chavez then tried to make a getaway by driving over McCann and dragging him several hundred feet, killing him, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.

Chavez was jailed pending his hearing for the death. But after posting bond, the DUI suspect disappeared.

Over a decade ago, Glen Higginbotham was drunk and drag racing when he struck a car carrying ten-year-old Candace Graham. Graham was not wearing a seatbelt when her car was hit and she was killed in the collision.

Higginbotham had a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit and was driving 81 mph in a 35 mph zone when he struck Graham's car, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. For the DUI death, Higginbotham received seven years in jail and two years parole for reckless homicide. Higginbotham has only been off parole for 18 months, but it's now being reported that the 33-year-old man faces two new DUI charges for separate incidents.

Sergio Galvez-Delira drove 11 miles down the wrong way of the Edens Expressway before he was stopped by police with the help from at least nine people who called 911 to report the drunk driver.

At about 2:30 a.m. on Thursday night, police received numerous calls of a wrong way driver on the northbound lanes of I-94, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. There were several calls along a route passing through Peterson, Touhy, Lake Street, Dempster, and Willow reporting an SUV traveling northbound in the southbound lanes. Callers described the driver as speeding and almost causing several accidents.

In a tragic Lake Zurich car accident, one ten-year-old twin brother was killed and another was left in critical condition.

The car crash happened when a driver of a one-ton pickup truck loaded with roof shingles ran a red light and struck a family car carrying the twins. The driver of the truck later admitted that he was under the influence of narcotics, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.

One of the best ways to stop drunk drivers is to take away their ability to drive drunk. With Illinois ignition interlock laws, this is exactly what the legislators hoped to do to repeat DUI offenders.

The Breath Alcohol Ignition Interlock Device (BAIID) is a device that is installed into someone's car that requires the driver to provide a breath sample prior to starting the vehicle. If you have a blood alcohol level of below 0.05 you are fine and will be allowed to start the car. Anything higher and your car won't work.