Cook County prosecutors dropped felony aggravated DUI and reckless homicide charges against off-duty Chicago officer John Ardelean, the Chicago Tribune reported. Two people in their early 20s were killed in the 2007 incident.
Nancy Flores, whose brother and his friend both lost their lives after John Ardelean's vehicle hit their car with his SUV at more than 60 m.p.h., did not attend the hearing and said she is angry with how prosecutors handled the deadly DUI:
"I am completely disappointed with the state's attorney's office, and I'm completely and utterly disgusted with the Chicago Police Department."
It might have been an open-shut case if not for a procedural error by the responding officers, not to mention the officer's Chicago DUI lawyer. Circuit Judge Thomas Gainer quashed John Ardelean's arrest in April because he determined that police lacked probable cause to arrest him.
And without the arrest, already without evidence of his blood-alcohol content, prosecutors lacked the evidence required for trial. Therefore they decided to drop all charges.
We blogged about this case on May 3, just after the officer's arrest was tossed out by the court. At the time, it seemed clear that prosecutors would end up dropping the charges as well.
It was an unusual case in that John Ardelean was arrested several hours after the accident. The officer who ordered the arrest reportedly smelled alcohol on his breath and detected bloodshot eyes, although none of the other officers involved backed up his assertions.
But it's worth pointing out that two of the responding officers know John Ardelean personally.
All hunches and suspicions aside, police simply did not handle this case properly and therefore John Ardelean could not have had a fair trial. That's why Chicago DUI lawyers are so valued in such cases.
Related Resources:
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Knowing When An Arrest Is Legal (FindLaw)
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Cop Walks as DUI Charges Dropped in Fatal '07 Crash (Chicago Sun-Times)
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Find a Chicago DUI Attorney (FindLaw)
