Off-duty Chicago police officer arrested in suburban Cook County

From ABC 7 news via WLS:

A Chicago Police officer was charged with driving under the influence after a May 12 incident in north suburban Northfield, police said.

Sean Lynch, 30, was also cited for excessive speeding and illegal transportation of alcohol. He is scheduled to appear in a Skokie court on June 16.

According to Northfield police, Lynch was stopped after he was observed speeding on northbound Interstate 94 at about 3:15 a.m. His Ford pickup was traveling 92 miles per hour in a 55 mph zone.

As police attempted to pull Lynch over, an officer observed Lynch’s truck speeding on an exit ramp and losing control of the vehicle, causing it to fishtail and then stop at Willow Road.

The Northfield police officer noted that he smelled a strong alcohol odor and that Lynch mumbled and slurred. The officer also saw an open can of Miller Lite beer on the front center console.

Lynch failed a field sobriety test and was arrested. After being charged, Lynch was released on $2,000 I-Bond.

Cowboy’s cornerback Nolan Carroll arrested for DWI

Veteran cornerback Nolan Carroll, who signed a three year contract with the Dallas Cowboys this off-season, was arrested for DWI in Dallas according to the Dallas News.

Carroll was pulled over for a traffic violation.  No other details have been released yet.

Tiger Woods arrested for DUI (Updated)

According to news reports, Tiger Woods has been arrested for DUI in Palm Beach County, Florida.

Update:

From the NY Daily News:

The 14-time major golf champion’s 2015 Mercedes was pulled over on Military Trail just south of Indian Creek Parkway as it traveled in the opposite direction of his home a few miles away.

“It’s based on visuals, a roadside test,” Rightler said of the reason for the arrest.

Police at the scene said they smelled alcohol on Woods’ breath, according to TMZ.

But Woods, who has been No. 1 longer than any other golfer in history, became “arrogant” at one point — then refused to take a Breathalyzer test, the site reported.

That resulted in an automatic arrest and license suspension under Florida state law, authorities said.

From CNN:

Tiger Woods needed to be woken up by an officer as his Mercedes was found stopped on a Florida roadway early Monday morning, before he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, according to court and police records.

“It should be noted (that) Woods was asleep at the wheel and had to be woken up” the arresting officer said in the police report. “The vehicle was running and the brake lights were illuminated as well as the right blinker flashing.”

A breath blood alcohol test administered showed no signs of alcohol in Woods’ system, as he blew a 0.00. A urine sample was collected.

Woods failed a field sobriety test after his vehicle was found “stopped on the roadway in the right-hand lane and right shoulder” at 2:03 a.m. Monday in Jupiter, Fla. Woods was cited for improper parking/stopping, along with the driving under the influence citation.

Woods was described as being “sluggish, sleepy” with “extremely slow and slurred speech” by the arresting officer.

“Woods stated he didn’t know where he was,” the officer wrote. “Woods changed his story of where he was going and where he was coming from. Woods asked how far he was from his house.”

Woods told the officer he “takes several prescriptions.”

After police explained instructions several times, Woods was able to complete the task of reciting the national anthem backwards. He failed other components of the field sobriety test, including walking on a straight line.

“Could not maintain starting position,” the officer wrote. “Missed heel to toe each time. Stepped off the line several times.”

From CBS News:

Tiger Woods released a statement explaining the incident from his point of view.

“I understand the severity of what I did and take full responsibility for my actions,” he said. “I want the public to know that alcohol was not involved. What happened was an unexpected reaction to prescribed medications. I didn’t realize the mix of medications had affected me so strongly.”

“I fully cooperated with law enforcement, and I would like to personally thank the representatives of the Jupiter Police Department and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office for their professionalism.”

Despite that claim, Woods went on to apologize for the incident and negative publicity.

“I would like to apologize with all my heart to my family, friends and the fans. I expect more from myself, too,” he said. “I will do everything in my power to ensure this never happens again.

Suspended Prison sentence for Pirates’ Kang upheld by S. Korean Court

From BleacherReport.com:

Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Jung Ho Kang had a suspended two-year prison sentence upheld in a South Korean court Thursday, which will further complicate his efforts to rejoin the MLB team during the 2017 season.

The Associated Press (via USA Today) reported the Seoul Central District Court denied Kang’s appeal after he asked for a reduction in punishment. The conviction on fleeing the scene of a crash and driving while drunk has prevented him from re-entering the U.S. based on visa issues.

In December, Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported it was the third DUI-related issue involving Kang since 2009. Pirates general manager Neal Huntington admitted the team was unaware of the previous arrests before signing the infielder in 2015.

Even if Kang obtains permission from South Korea to travel to the Unites States to play baseball, it is unclear whether the United States will grant him entry given the current administration’s tougher stance on visas.

Victim impact panels are coming to Kankakee County in DUI cases

Victim Impact Panels, which have been a long staple of DUI sentencing in Cook, DuPage and Lake Counties, are now coming to Kankakee County.

For those not familiar, the concept of a Victim Impact Panel is that DUI (or other serious traffic) offenders are required to attend a presentation where victims of drunk driving accidents talk about their stories.  The speakers might be someone seriously injured by a drunk driver, someone who lost a family member or significant or the drunk driver, who talks about the damage he or she has done and the penalties he or she received.

From the Kankakee Daily Journal (article by Allison Shapiro):

“We think that when you look at DUI offenders, we want to make sure they clearly realize the impact that their crime has, not only on our community as a whole and their own families, but on victims of DUI offenses,” said Kankakee County State’s Attorney Jim Rowe. “We hope that this additional perspective makes people think twice before driving drunk or recklessly.”

Staff from the MADD Illinois office, as well as volunteers, told participants the stories of how their lives had been changed by someone’s reckless behavior. One of the speakers was Zach Jones, a Limestone native who became an activist after he was severely injured by a drunk driver in 2012.

“It’s great to be able to bring something back to the community I’m from. It’s something that hopefully will help keep people safe in the future, keep from happening to other people what happened to me,” said Jones, now the program coordinator at MADD Illinois. “It’s a great thing, it’s something positive for the county to use to try to move forward and keep this from happening.”

Read the entire story here:  http://www.daily-journal.com/news/local/kankakee-county-launches-first-dui-victim-panel/article_4808a5ed-ab6c-5ddc-b3ab-b9f7319297ee.html

Do What I Say, Not What I Do: Drivers Ed Teacher arrested for 2d DUI in school lot

From local Patch:

JOLIET, IL — A driver’s education teacher police said was found passed out drunk behind the wheel of a driver’s ed car parked outside the main entrance of Joliet Central High School stepped down from his job.

Nestor Nowak, 46, resigned Monday night, said Joliet high school district spokeswoman Kristine Schlismann. Nowak had been on leave.

A Joliet Central employee found Nowak slumped over the steering wheel of a white Ford driver’s ed car the morning of April 6, police said. Fearing that Nowak was suffering from some medical issue, police said, the employee called for an ambulance.

Nowak was taken to Presence St. Joseph Medical Center. A blood draw showed his alcohol content was more than three times the .08 percent legal limit for driving, police said…

Nowak was able to work as a Joliet high school district driver’s ed teacher in spite of pleading guilty to drunken driving in July 2014. He was sentenced in that case to a year of court supervision.

Read the full story here at:  https://patch.com/illinois/channahon-minooka/s/g4igm/driver-s-ed-teacher-resigns-amid-scandal?utm_source=alert-breakingnews&utm_medium=email&utm_term=weather&utm_campaign=alert

 

Why did Sycamore police not charge an Elgin cop with DUI?

Questions are being raised about the unusual treatment given to an Elgin police officer who was arrested, but not charged with, DUI by Sycamore police.

From the Northwest Herald:

Police Chief Glenn Theriault has been on administrative leave since April 10 as the city investigates why an Elgin police officer arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence was released without charges.

Records obtained by the Daily Chronicle through the Freedom of Information Act show a Sycamore officer was building a driving under the influence case against Elgin Police Sgt. Mark Whaley after an early morning traffic stop Saturday, April 8. Whaley, who has been a police officer for almost 23 years, was handcuffed and driven to the police station, where he was processed. Theriault, who worked with Whaley on the Elgin police force, also went to the police station that night.

Whaley later was released without even a traffic ticket because of lack of evidence, according to the police report.

The report shows Whaley, 46, declined field sobriety tests and declined to provide a breath sample at the Sycamore police station. It does not say whether Whaley was issued a DUI ticket or read the “warning to motorist” that could have triggered a suspension of his license for a year for refusing chemical testing under Illinois law.

Cellphone records show Theriault had three early morning phone conversations with an Elgin police commander and later helped to ensure that a $500 administrative towing fee was waived for Whaley, bypassing a hearing process prescribed by city code.

“Tough position for you and all last night,” read a text sent by Theriault hours later to the arresting officer, Luke Kampmeier. “I’m thinking of the rock-and-glass houses story.”

“A valuable experience for me, albeit unpleasant,” Kampmeier replied. “Tonight we will stick to parking tickets.”

,,,

The episode began around 1:40 a.m. Saturday, April 8. In his report, Kampmeier – who joined the force out of college in 2014 – wrote that he stopped a silver 2005 Ford F-150 pickup on Somonauk Street near High Street after he saw the driver almost cause a traffic crash at the intersection of State and California streets. Reasons given for the stop were noted as “fail to signal, overtake on right, no front license plate.”

In his report, Kampmeier wrote that the driver, Whaley, smelled strongly of alcohol. His speech was “thick-tongued,” his eyes glassy and bloodshot, his movements “slow and deliberate.”

Whaley told Kampmeier he had recently dropped off his wife and child downtown, then changed his story to say he was in the area for training and had one beer in Sycamore before driving, according to Kampmeier’s report. A story by the Daily Herald about Whaley saving a boy’s life with CPR in 2011 said he lived near DeKalb at the time.

After Whaley refused field sobriety tests, Kampmeier arrested him on suspicion of DUI, records show.

A second officer, Blake Powers, a 2016 police academy graduate, searched Whaley’s vehicle and found an unopened bottle of Miller Lite near the passenger seat, according to police reports.

You can read the whole story here.  Normally, in this situation, the person will be charged with DUI.  Often in Sycamore, the police will seek a warrant to obtain a blood draw.  Getting released without being charged is a rare gift indeed.  We should all be so lucky.

Lake Co. Sheriff charged with perjury for testimony in DUI case

From the Chicago Tribune (reported by Jim Newton):

Deputy Sheriff Justin Hill, 28, of Kenosha, was indicted by a Lake County grand jury Wednesday on three felony counts of perjury, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office…

According to Sgt. Christopher Covelli of the Sheriff’s Office, inconsistencies were allegedly discovered in Hill’s testimony during a court hearing on the potential statutory summary suspension of a DUI defendant’s driver’s license. The testimony was allegedly given by Hill on Nov. 2.

Covelli and Jim Elliot, deputy chief of the Sheriff’s Office of Professional Standards, said the Sheriff’s Office is working with the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office to determine whether any other cases in which Hill was involved could be impacted.

According to Elliot, each DUI case in which Hill was the arresting officer or was involved would be reviewed individually, and the State’s Attorney’s Office would decide whether each case would move forward based on all evidence involved.

Elliot said he does not believe there will be any blanket dismissal of cases in which Hill was involved. He added that he was unsure how many cases were to be reviewed.

A spokesperson for the State’s Attorney’s Office said Wednesday the number of cases was not immediately available, but would soon be released.

Following the Nov. 2 hearing, the Sheriff’s Office was notified Nov. 23 that “inconsistencies with Hill’s testimony (that) potentially resulted in perjury” had been discovered, according to Covelli.

Hill was placed on administrative leave and relieved of his police powers following an investigation by the Office of Professional Standards, Covelli said.