Recently in DUI in the News Category

Drag racing on Chicago's streets is dangerous enough while sober. But a two-car crash during a race along the Eisenhower Expy. last Sunday proved absolutely fatal, as reported by the Chicago Sun-Times.

Edward Dixon, the 28-year-old driver of the 2004 Chevrolet Impala, was charged with a DUI. He and a backseat passenger suffered non-life-threatening injuries; but 28-year-old front-seat passenger Maurice A. Horton was killed after being partially ejected from the car after the driver lost control.

The Wilmette Pioneer reported that Szymon Zawadzki, a 20-year-old Chicago man, was charged with two counts of reckless homicide and charges related to driving under the influence of alcohol. The Wilmette incident claimed the lives of two of his four teenage passengers.

Szymon Zawadzki's Chicago DUI lawyer may advise his client to plead guilty to the four counts of aggravated DUI, two for DUI resulting in death and two for DUI resulting in great bodily harm, unless he or she has a plan to defend against the charges. He also was charged with improper lane usage, failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident and driving without insurance.

But even though he's only 20, the article didn't mention charges related to underage drinking. His blood-alcohol concentration at the time of the crash also was not reported.  

The DUI charge against 37-year-old Rogue Dooley may be the least of his worries, as the Chicago Sun-Times reported. The Gary, Indiana man allegedly dragged a Chicago Police bicycle officer 30 feet after striking the cop with his pickup truck last Saturday night.

He now faces charges of aggravated battery to a police officer, aggravated fleeing police, misdemeanor reckless driving, driving without a license, failure to obey a police order, operating a motor vehicle without insurance and having alcohol in the car, in addition to the DUI charge.

It may take more than your average Chicago DUI lawyer to defend against those charges.

An unidentified, allegedly intoxicated motorist initiated a police chase after his Mercedes struck a squad car on the West Side, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. The chase ended in the Ukranian Village neighborhood after police had to use a Taser to subdue the man. 

He is now facing charges of resisting arrest and driving under the influence, but the article made no mention of the exact charges or how his Chicago DUI attorney might stage a defense.

A man was arrested over the weekend for a DUI after Illinois State Police responded to reports of a highway shooter, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. His name was not released by police at the time and it's not yet known whether or not he was the shooter in question.

WBBM Chicago reported the following day that the man's name is John Mauro. Depending on the outcome of the investigation, he may need an Illinois criminal defense attorney in addition to a Chicago DUI lawyer.

Ten-year-old Calvin Santos was crossing the street in Rogers Park last week with his 3-year-old sister and father, according to NBC Chicago, when he was struck and killed by a suspected drunk driver. Neither sister Liliana Santos nor father Bulmaro Santos were injured in the accident.

The driver, identified as 30-year-old Rogers Park resident Martin Candia, was charged with reckless homicide and aggravated DUI. His Chicago DUI lawyer likely will urge his or her client to plead guilty, but the defendant faces a tough trial involving the death of a child.

The three family members were crossing the street between two parked SUVs on North Ashland Blvd. when Martin Candia crashed into one of the vehicles, which pinned and crushed Calvin Santos between the two. He was declared dead shortly after arriving at St. Francis Hospital in Evanston.

A woman from north suburban Chicago was charged with a felony aggravated DUI after she struck two vehicles, CBS Chicago reported. The 25-year-old driver, Yolanda McCray, and her 5-year-old daughter were both injured in the accident.

The mother is expected to fully recover but sources say the young girl is in "really bad shape," but reporters would not elaborate. The defendant was ordered held on $100,000 bond.

Whatever the condition of the child, Yolanda McCray's Illinois DUI attorney no doubt has a challenging case. Her history and the current charges are quite serious.  

A Chicago man who boastfully told police his street name is "Fast Eddie" allegedly offered a Cook County sheriff's deputy a $40 bribe after he was stopped for throwing something out his window, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. A normal traffic stop then took a turn for the worse. Edward Skopek, 58, was arrested and is now free on $20,000 bond.

While he wasn't charged with driving under the influence and will need to consult a criminal attorney rather than a Chicago DUI lawyer, he also was caught with a cup of ice filled with what police claim was alcohol. He was charged with illegal transportation of alcohol as well as bribery of a public official.

It wasn't clear whether his license was suspended for a past DUI or for some other reason.

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.

Forty-year-old St. Charles resident Dirk William Hary was arrested and charged with a DUI, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The incident happened around 1 p.m. on Sunday, which is at least 12 hours earlier than most DUI arrests. 

But Dirk Hary, who allegedly was under the influence of prescription drugs and alcohol while behind the wheel, had his three young boys with him. So in addition to the DUI charge, he also was charged with endangering the life of a child under the age of 18.

He probably already has an Illinois DUI attorney picked out, since he already has two pending DUI cases in St. Charles, from arrests last year according to the article.