Riverside police arrested a man May 26 for driving drunk after his car struck roadway signage.
Around 2:22 a.m., two officers responded to a report of a hit-and-run at the intersection of Northwood Road and North Delaplaine Road. A resident, who had called the police, said he was inside his home when he heard a loud crash from the street, followed by “a dragging sound.” When the man went outside, he saw the street sign and stop sign from the intersection’s southeast corner laying in the road with vehicle debris.
One of the officers followed a trail of “noticeable liquid spillage” on the road before coming across a white Nissan stopped with its headlights on near the intersection of Northwood and Akenside roads. The officer observed “heavy damage” to the front passenger side of the car and saw two men awake in the front seats.
After being approached by the officer, the driver said he was OK and had been trying to take his friend home to North Riverside. The man said he didn’t know if he had been involved in a crash and that the car’s damage was already there. According to police, the officer noticed the man had glassy eyes and that he spoke slowly and slurred his words. The officer also saw an open bottle of vodka with liquid inside in the cup holder.
The man said he had drunk “a couple” of alcoholic drinks before agreeing to step out of the vehicle and take field sobriety tests. During the tests, the officer saw the man “wobble and stagger” and fail to follow instructions correctly. The man also agreed to take a preliminary breath test, which showed .19 blood alcohol content, more than twice the legal limit.
The officer arrested the man and searched him for weapons and contraband, finding a “drug pipe.” The officer inventoried the man’s car and confiscated another pipe alongside the bottle of vodka. Police had the car towed and later transported the man’s passenger to his home in North Riverside.
At central lockup in Berwyn, the man took another chemical breath test, which showed .195 blood alcohol content. While answering questions, the man said he had stopped the car after his friend told him he had struck the curb and a sign. He said he didn’t realize he had hit something before then and was thankful it wasn’t a person. The man apologized before police booked him on DUI charges and later released him on pre-trial conditions with a July 18 court date.
Suspended license and plates
Brookfield police ticketed a 44-year-old Willowbrook man May 23 for driving with a suspended registration. Around 10:33 p.m., an officer was patrolling the 4300 block of Prairie Avenue when their squad car’s license plate reader picked up on a nearby white Chrysler. After running the car’s license plates through the Spillman police software, the officer learned the car’s registration had been suspended due to a lack of insurance.
The officer pulled the car over and asked the driver for his license and proof of insurance, which the man provided. After running the man’s information through the Spillman search, the officer learned his driver’s license had been suspended as well.
The officer told the man he would need to legally park his car and have someone else pick him up, as he could not legally continue to drive. The officer issued the man citations for driving with suspended license plates and a suspended driver’s license and set a June 24 court date.
These items were obtained from the Riverside Police Department reports dated May 26 and the Brookfield Police Department reports dated May 19-26; 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.
