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Bail was set at $75,000 Thursday for a Chicago man arrested in Norridge and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, the fourth time he has been arrested on DUI charges.

Tomas Martinez, 39, of the 4200 block of North Milwaukee Avenue, appeared in the Rolling Meadows branch of Cook County Circuit Court, where he also was charged with driving on a revoked license, Assistant State’s Attorney Jim Pontrelli said.

Martinez was stopped about 3:30 a.m. Thursday in the 7200 block of West Montrose Avenue, Pontrelli said. His blood-alcohol level measured 0.299, more than three times the legal limit of 0.08, Pontrelli said. Martinez has three prior DUI arrests, Pontrelli said.

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A 30-year-old Chicago man was charged with murder and aggravated DUI on Wednesday in a hit-and-run that killed a Rogers Park woman and injured her 6-year-old son.

Ralph Eubanks, of the 1400 block of North Sedgwick, also was charged with leaving the scene of an accident. Maria Worthon, 48, of the 1400 block of West Touhy, was walking with her son in the 1400 block of West Greenleaf at 9 p.m. Monday when they were struck by Eubanks’ car, Cook County prosecutors said.

He drove south on Greenview after hitting them, police said, but they stopped him about a mile away.

The boy was in critical condition Wednesday at Children’s Memorial Hospital.

Eubanks, a convicted felon, has been stopped for speeding, driving without a valid license and DUI in the past seven years, according to court files.

Obviously a DUI fatality is not taken lightly, but neither is a straight DUI. If you have been charged with a DUI in Chicago or anywhere for that matter you would be well advised to contact a DUI attorney.

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The Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists recently issued its 2008 rankings of DUI arrests by community for towns in Illinois outside of Chicago. With 651 DUI arrests in 2008, Naperville came in second only to Rockford, which had 785.

“The 4th of July weekend is a little different for us because we also have one of our major events — Ribfest — that weekend,” Waitkus said. “But our DUI enforcement that weekend isn’t much different. It just is an enhancement to what we’re doing the rest of the year, and not a major change.”

Other local police departments employ varying strategies for the holiday weekend. Wheaton Police Chief Mark Field said the city receives grant money from IDOT to hire additional officers to help provide extra patrols — known as “saturation patrols” — on major roadways, particularly near problem intersections like Naperville and Butterfield Roads.

“We try to focus on those areas where we know there are DUI problems but also where the most accidents occur,” Field said. “That’s the approach we’ve taken instead of checkpoints, and that’s been more successful for us.”

Glen Ellyn Police Chief Phil Norton said the holiday weekend means that his department has all hands on deck. With such daylong activities as a parade, and fireworks at Lake Ellyn, every member of the force works the 4th of July, he said.

“Earlier in the evening, we’re typically responding to numerous calls of fireworks, parties and loud noise and things like that,” Norton said. “Once things settle down, because we have so many people on duty, some of our officers turn their concentration toward DUIs.”

Oakbrook Terrace has one of the smaller police forces in DuPage County but has long segments of several of the county’s busiest thoroughfares, including Roosevelt Road, Butterfield Road, 22nd Street and Illinois Highway 83. Police Chief Mark Collins said his department made four DUI arrests in one night on a recent Friday.

“We’re going to be out there like we normally do every weekend,” Collins said. “We’re definitely going to add additional people on the 4th. We always do.”

With the official start of summer here and the road-clogging 4th of July holiday approaching, local police departments are redoubling their efforts to pull impaired drivers off the roads.

“We have more people that are injured and killed as a result of vehicle crashes,” said Naperville Police Cmdr. Gregg Waitkus. “We’re not saying that they’re all DUI-related, but it’s a real safety issue for us.”

The number of alcohol-related fatalities declined slightly statewide in 2008, with 1,043 fatalities reported, of which 35.5 percent resulted from a crash where at least one driver had a blood-alcohol level of 0.01 or greater, the Illinois Department of Transportation said. That compares with just more than 36 percent in 2007. The legal threshold in Illinois is 0.08.

“We have a reputation for being a town that makes a lot of Illinois DUI arrests,” Waitkus said. “We’re proud of that reputation. We really instill in our officers that DUI enforcement is a priority for our department.”

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An off-duty Chicago police officer charged with crashing into and killing a 13-year-old boy on a bike wasn’t administered a Breathalyzer for four hours after the crash and didn’t have blood drawn to test for his sobriety for another eight hours because he initially refused to cooperate, police said Tuesday. Four hours after the crash, Officer Richard Bolling registered on a Breathalyzer at 0.079, just under the legal limit of 0.08, prosecutors said.

Bolling, 39, appeared in Cook County court Tuesday, four days after he was charged with aggravated Illinois DUI, reckless homicide and leaving the scene of a crash early Friday that killed Trenton Booker. He is being held in lieu of $2 million bail.

Friday’s death marked the second time in just over a month that an off-duty Chicago police officer has been arrested in a fatal crash allegedly involving alcohol. Joseph Frugoli was charged in April with reckless homicide and Chicago DUI after a fiery crash killed two men.

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The woman chosen by Mt. Prospect School District 57 to replace its retiring superintendent resigned from the position Tuesday after being charged last month with driving under the influence of alcohol in Chicago.

School board president Joseph Leane said he received a “very brief letter” late Tuesday afternoon from Peggy Kaufmann resigning from the position she was supposed to begin July 1. Kaufmann is assistant superintendent-instructional services for Schaumburg-based Community Consolidated School District 54.

Kaufmann, 52, of Geneva was charged by Bartlett police early on April 11 with two misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence of alcohol. She was convicted of a similar charge in 2002, according to news reports.

Leane declined to say whether District 57 was aware of either the current charges or the earlier conviction ahead of news reports. “I’m not comfortable going back over details,” Leane said Wednesday. “Our relationship has been terminated, and I wish her well.”

Leane said the resignation did not involve any financial cost to the district, but it does mean starting over in the search for a superintendent to replace Bruce Brown, who will retire June 30.

Kaufmann will no longer work for District 54 after the end of June, said District 54 spokeswoman Terri McHugh. “Her contract expires June 30,” McHugh said Wednesday. “Her position was filled months ago.”

Kaufmann could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

District 57 Board members will decide soon whether to hire a search firm and begin a new search or look again at candidates who finished behind Kaufmann in the last search, Leane said. That decision could come at the board’s next regular meeting on May 21, or perhaps in a special meeting before then.

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Former Chicago Bears quarterback Bob Avellini was acquitted Wednesday of drunken driving in Wheaton.

A DuPage County judge tossed out the Roselle man’s June 15, 2007 arrest – his fourth since 2002.

Avellini, 55, refused to submit to field sobriety and breath tests during the traffic stop on Main Street near Liberty Avenue, in the city’s downtown.

So, the only other evidence the judge had to consider was the testimony of a former Wheaton police officer who flew in from Florida, where he now works, for the trial. The officer said he stopped Avellini’s black 2007 Acura RDX after midnight for erratic driving. He said Avellini smelled of alcohol and had red, bloodshot eyes, droopy eyelids, slurred speech and poor balance.

DuPage Associate Judge Robert Kleeman said the officer had enough probable cause to make an arrest, but his observations were not proof beyond a reasonable doubt – the higher standard required for conviction.

Avellini was convicted of DUI the first time for an arrest on I-55 near Burr Ridge when he had a .16-blood-alcohol level, twice the legal threshold of .08. At the time, a court evaluator determined him to be a “moderate risk” to re-offend.

His next two arrests, in Wood Dale and Downers Grove, were dropped for lack of evidence after Avellini refused tests.

Avellini spent 10 seasons in the NFL, the majority with the Bears from 1975 to 1984. The native New Yorker finished his career with the New York Jets, retiring in 1984 with a 23-27 record as a starter.

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A Northwest Side man was charged with a DUI after rear-ending a Chicago Police officer Saturday night.

Emergency crews responded to the accident on the 3800 block of West Lawrence Avenue about 8 p.m., according to Fire Media Affairs Director Larry Langford.

Stefan Gherguta, 33, of the 3900 block of West Argyle Street, was charged with a Chicago DUI after rear-ending an unmarked squad car, police said.

A total of two ambulances were sent to the scene and the officer was taken to Resurrection Medical Center in “stable” condition, police said. Gherguta refused medical treatment.

It is believed the officer worked in a tactical unit.

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Bond was set at $500,000 Sunday for an off-duty Chicago Police detective accused of killing two men when he allegedly plowed into a disabled car in a drunken-driving crash early Friday on the Dan Ryan Expressway.

After the hearing, a family member of one of the victims was taken into custody after a disturbance in the hallway that spilled out into the street, authorities said.

Joseph Frugoli, 41, of the Bridgeport area, was charged Friday with two counts of aggravated driving under the influence, two counts of reckless homicide and one count of leaving the scene of an accident, said Sally Daly, spokeswoman for the Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez.

Frugoli was ordered held on $500,000 bond at a Sunday hearing at the Cook County Criminal Courthouse at 3100 S. California Ave.

About 70 friends and family members of the two men killed in the crash became upset after bond was set and raised their voices in the courtroom hallway, Cook County Sheriff’s police spokesman Steve Patterson said.

Once outside the building, the group began telling strangers the bond was a travesty and Sheriff’s police took one of the family members into custody for his own safety, Patterson said. He was released without being charged.

Frugoli was taken into custody Friday after he drove his black Lexus into a red Dodge Intrepid that broke down in the southbound lanes of the Dan Ryan Expressway (I-90/94) near the 18th Street ramp, authorities said.

Frugoli, an 18-year-department veteran, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where tests indicated his blood-alcohol level was about triple the legal limit of .08, sources said.

The officer was walking away from the crash scene when he was apprehended, police said.

A bystander, Marcus Copeland, said he tried to pull the victims from the burning Intrepid shortly before 4 a.m., but the flames were overpowering. “I couldn’t do anything,” he said.
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A judge dropped charges in a DUI case after a police officer’s report didn’t match video from the squad car camera.

On July 7, 2008, a Chicago Police Department squad car camera captured video of a traffic stop on Lake Shore Drive. The driver of the vehicle, Raymond Bell, was arrested for allegedly driving under the influence, going over the speed limit and negligent driving.

In December, the Cook County state’s attorney turned over police surveillance video in the incident, according to Bell’s attorney, Gregory Reeder. The DUI charges were dropped.

“I think he had an overzealous officer who was looking for a DUI arrest,” said Gregory Reeder, attorney for Raymond Bell.

The video did not match up with Officer Parker’s notes, which were given to ABC7 by Reeder. In the report, Officer Parker wrote, there were “numerous clues of impairment.” However, in the video, Bell appears to cooperate with several tests for intoxication, including one where he does the walk and turn testing- walking a straight line and turning around. In the Illinois Department of Transportation DWI student manual, the clues of intoxication include: stops while walking, does not touch heel to toe, or steps off the line.

“He doesn’t turn incorrectly. He walks the correct number of steps and he’s speaking with the officer throughout the entire video,” said Reeder.

During the tests, Bell also stands on one leg. The clues to intoxication in that test include swaying, arms moving and hopping. Bell also appears to clarify the instructions and then proceeds to hold one leg up.
<p”I believe it’s approximately 50 seconds (that) he’s holding his foot up the entire time, even when he doesn’t understand, he puts his foot back up. He asks him the question then proceeds to count,” said Reeder. “Officers are already given the benefit of the doubt. They are out there to serve and protect, and the vast majority of officers do that. There are exceptions to every rule and this is definitely exceptional.”

Sources told ABC7 the officer’s cases were repeatedly coming to court without enough evidence. An internal investigation was launched.

Bell did not want to talk on camera, but according to his attorneys he is relieved the case is over- but upset about the night.

Police release statement

Following ABC7′s report, the Chicago DUI Police Department released this statement: The matter involving Joe Parker is currently under investigation by the Chicago Police Department. AT this time, Parker has been placed on desk duty and relieved of his police powers. The Department will work with the State’s Attorney to ensure that videos available for investigative purposes from in-car cameras are properly and timely used for criminal prosecutions. The Department is also reviewing internal procedures and training to ensure that department members are following proper procedures and protocols in their interactions with the public.

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A Chicago man was charged Thursday with drug possession and DUI after he was involved in a crash Wednesday night on the South Side that injured 11 people and involved eight other vehicles.

Anthony Parson, 48, of the 7300 block of South Eberhart was charged with possession of a controlled substance for allegedly possessing less than 15 grams of cocaine, according to police News Affairs. Parson was also charged with misdemeanor DUI and cited for reckless driving and operating a vehicle without insurance.
Police are considering whether to seek felony DUI charges, News Affairs Officer Daniel O’Brien said.

Police said Parson was driving on Western Avenue between 83rd and 87th streets about 7:35 p.m. Wednesday when he struck multiple vehicles heading in the same direction. His vehicle came to rest near a fence and he was taken into custody.

All but one of the 11 people who were hospitalized were expected to be released Thursday from area hospitals. One person suffered more serious injuries but they  were not considered life-threatening, O’Brien said.

Parson was among three injured people taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. O’Brien did not know if he remained hospitalized Thursday.

Police continue to investigate and no further details were available, O’Brien said.
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