Riverside police arrested a man Sept. 21 after an officer on patrol had to swerve to avoid the man’s oncoming car.
Around 3:53 a.m., the officer was driving north on Harlem Avenue when a southbound van crossed over the center lane markers into the left northbound lane, causing the officer to swerve their car to the right. The officer made a U-turn to get behind the van and observed the driver’s behavior; the van stopped on the yellow dividing line at a traffic light and did not go through the intersection when the light turned green. As the van continued south, it continued to cross over the yellow divider and white lane markers. After proceeding through the traffic light at Ogden Avenue, the van started to “weave completely into oncoming traffic,” so the officer activated their squad car’s emergency lights and pulled the van over.
After making contact with the driver, the officer smelled a “strong odor” of alcohol coming from the man’s breath and saw he had bloodshot eyes. The man told the officer he had been driving to his home on the 2800 block of Ridgeland Avenue in Berwyn, though the officer noted the man had missed several turns that would have brought him toward the address. The man also provided his driver’s license and stated the vehicle he was driving was a work van.
After confirming the man’s license was valid, the officer asked the man to complete field sobriety tests outside the van. According to police, the man’s behavior during the tests proved he was drunk. After the tests, the officer asked the man to take a portable breath test, which revealed .21 blood alcohol content.
The officer arrested the man for driving drunk and transported him to the police station. After being read his Miranda rights, the man said he had drunk a bottle of cold medicine because he had the flu, as well as a canned cocktail. The man was charged with driving under the influence and improper lane usage before being released with a Nov. 1 court date.
Drunk driver near a village building
Riverside police arrested a man Sept. 22 for driving drunk.
While on patrol around 1:08 a.m., an officer saw the man’s car “driving recklessly at a high rate of speed” while heading north on Columbus Boulevard of off 39th Street into the parking lot for Riverside Public Works. The officer got behind the vehicle with their squad car and started a traffic stop. As the officer began to approach the car, the driver and passenger both exited it, but the officer told them to get back in.
While speaking with the driver, the officer detected the scent of alcohol and saw he had bloodshot, glassy eyes. The officer also noticed two containers of Cayman Jack alcohol in the center console. When the officer asked the man for his driver’s license and proof of insurance, the man provided an insurance card but said he had never been issued a license. The man also said he had drunk five beers earlier before agreeing to take sobriety field tests.
During testing, the officer noticed multiple indicators of the man’s impairment, including one point when the man became argumentative and stopped complying with test instructions.
Due to the man’s behavior, admission of having drunk and performance during the tests, the officer arrested the man and placed him into their squad car. The passenger was offered a ride to the police station to await a ride, but he declined and was sent on his way at the scene.
At the police station, police Mirandized the man, and he provided a chemical breath test that showed .168 blood alcohol content. He then said he had drunk seven beers before driving, in contrast to the five he mentioned earlier.
Police approved aggravated DUI charges for the man, which is a felony. The man was processed and released with a court date.
These items were obtained from the Riverside Police Department reports dated Sept. 21-23 and the Brookfield Police Department reports dated Sept. 23-30; they represent a portion of the incidents to which police responded. Anyone named in these reports has only been charged with a crime and cases have not yet been adjudicated. We report the race of a suspect only when a serious crime has been committed, the suspect is still at large and police have provided us with a detailed physical description of the suspect as they seek the public’s help in making an arrest.
