Updated 02/15/11 – 2:02 p.m.

MARKHAM (CBS) – A Lynwood village clerk allegedly was driving from one bar to another and had a blood alcohol level more than one-and-a-half times the legal limit when he crashed head-on into a car, killing a Chicago mother of four two weeks ago.

Bond was set at $250,000 Tuesday morning for Roel N. Valle, 64, who is charged with aggravated DUI involving death and reckless homicide.

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WBBM’s Steve Miller reports that prosecutors said in court Tuesday that Valle began drinking at the Lincolnshire Country Club in Crete on Feb. 3, then went to a nearby restaurant and bar and kept drinking.

At about 1:15 a.m. on Feb. 4, he was on his way to another bar when he drove his government-issued vehicle the wrong way on I-394. His vehicle struck a 2000 Chrysler Cirrus head-on, and the impact caused the Chrysler to overturn into the center median.

The passenger in the Chrysler, Melikah Little, was killed instantly. The driver, 27-year-old Angelina Jones of Chicago, was critically injured, police said. Little would have celebrated her 33rd birthday on Feb. 8.

After hitting the Cirrus, Valle’s vehicle struck another car, driven by her husband, Manuel Little, 37, who was driving right behind her, prosecutors said.

More than five hours later, Valle’s blood alcohol level was measured at .135 — more than one and a half times the legal limit.

Angelina Jones was also charged with DUI — a Class A misdemeanor — and several traffic violations, state police said. She is due in court Feb. 28.

Reckless homicide while operating a vehicle carries a punishment of 2-5 years in prison, while DUI causing death is punishable by 3-14 years, according to police.

Prosecutors said Valle was still hospitalized as of Tuesday morning. They said he had a DUI suspension in 1985.

(The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.)

CHICAGO (STMW) – An admittedly drunk driver took the witness stand in his own defense Friday, testifying how a Chicago Heights police officer ordered him behind the wheel before he crashed his girlfriend’s car, killing the 5-year-old boy he called his own.

Cecil Conner Jr., who faces two counts of aggravated driving under the influence, said officer Chris Felicetti gave him the mandate after his girlfriend and Michael Langford Jr.’s mother, Kathie LaFond, was arrested for driving on a suspended license.

In the early morning hours of May 10, LaFond, a designated driver, picked Conner up from a cousin’s house where Conner said he had been drinking Bud Lights while watching the NBA playoffs. LaFond’s son was sleeping in the back of the Chevrolet Cavalier minutes before the May 10 crash.

“I opened the passenger door. [Felicetti] put the keys in my hand. He told me to take Michael home and come back for Kathie,” Conner told Will County jurors, his blue striped suit jacket and collared shirt hiding the larger of his neck tattoos. “Then he ordered me to drive. He told me if I didn’t drive, I’d be arrested.”

The Steger man recalled thinking that night, “Everything’s blurry. I can’t really see. I’m scared”

Then Conner called the house he’d partied at to ask for help. He talked to Jennifer Tartt, his cousin’s fiancée, but the line went dead before he could figure out where he was.

The next thing he remembered was waking up. The Cavalier had slammed into one tree, richocheted into a cyclone fence and uprooted a pine tree.

“I was reaching in the back seat, screaming for help,” Conner said.

Assistant State’s Attorney Deborah Mills pounced on Conner during cross examination.

Why did he tell Steger police to “go get the bastard that did this?”

Why did he tell police some guy had cut him off? Where did he see the semi-truck he said caused him to swerve into the other lane?

“I don’t remember,” Conner repeated to her.

How did Conner manage to call his friend but not just pull over?

“You had a phone, correct?” she asked, raising her voice. “You had a brake pedal too?”

And did he ever go back to the Chicago Heights Police Station?

“I was supposed to go back there after I dropped Michael off,” Conner said. “I didn’t make it.”

Prosecutors’ brief rebuttal included testimony from a security supervisor at St. James Hospital in Chicago Heights who refuted LaFond’s insistence she told Felicetti three times Conner was drunk and she was his ride home.

Kevin Kutta said he overheard LaFond talking to Michael’s godmother in the waiting room at the ER where Michael was pronounced dead.

“Look, I need to tell you something,” he said LaFond told the other woman when they were alone. “I was picked up by police and arrested. I told the officer, ‘Please, let Cecil drive my baby home. That’s how he got the keys, That’s how he got the car, that’s how he got the baby.’”

Kutta said he volunteered his story to police after seeing LaFond on the TV news insisting the opposite.

Closing arguments in the trial are expected Tuesday.

JOLIET, Ill. (STMW) – A Will County jury has found Cecil Conner Jr. guilty of aggravated driving under the influence in the high-speed crash that led to the death of his girlfriend’s 5-year-old son last spring.

The jury, which began its deliberations Tuesday morning, convicted Conner on both counts of aggravated driving under the influence Tuesday night. He’s facing three to 14 years in prison.

Conner maintained a Chicago Heights police officer ordered him to drive after arresting his girlfriend and designated driver, Kathie LaFond, for driving with a suspended license.

Her son, Michael Langford Jr. was asleep in the back seat at the time of the crash.

The boy died after Conner slammed their Chevrolet Cavalier into a tree, ricocheted into a cyclone fence and uprooted a pine tree at Carpenter Street and Steger Road. Conner’s blood-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit.

Conner maintained Chicago Heights officer Chris Felicetti ordered him to drive the car.

Conner’s attorney, Jeff Tomczak, during closing arguments insisted the case was one of “entrapment and necessity,” arguing Conner only got behind the wheel because Felicetti ordered him to drive and threatened to arrest Conner if he failed to comply. LaFond testified she told Felicetti three times that Conner was drunk, and she was his designated driver.

“Remember, it was his son, too,” Tomczak said, a reference to LaFond, Conner and Michael living in the same house in Steger.

“If there’s a mistake in this case, it wasn’t Cecil Conner’s. Don’t hold him accountable for what that police officer did.”

Prosecutors maintained, however, that only one person killed the boy: Conner.

Assistant State’s Attorney Deborah Mills told jurors LaFond and Conner made several inconsistent statements, which casts doubt on their version of events. She reminded the jury of testimony from a security supervisor at St. James Hospital in Chicago Heights, who rebutted LaFond’s insistence she told Felicetti that Conner was drunk and she was his ride home.

Kevin Kutta said he overheard LaFond talking to Michael’s godmother in the waiting room at the emergency room where Michael was pronounced dead and admitted to the woman that she pleaded with the officer to let Cecil drive the boy home.

Kutta testified he overheard LaFond telling Michael’s godmother: “’I told the officer, ‘Please, let Cecil drive my baby home. That’s how he got the keys, That’s how he got the car, that’s how he got the baby.’”

Mills also reminded jurors that Conner never pulled over or stopped the car after Felicetti allowed him to drive away.

WAUKEGAN, Ill. (STMW) – The Gurnee woman accused of attacking a police officer with a sex toy was accepted into a chemical dependency treatment program Friday, according to Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Scott Turk.

Carolee Bildsten, 56, will be transported from Lake County Jail to Women’s Residential Services for treatment until her trial starts.

Bildsten is charged with aggravated DUI, assault and theft of labor. She was caught driving under the influence of alcohol Sept. 15, 2010, Turk said.

Less than two months later, Bildsten was accused of running out on a restaurant tab and then attacking a Gurnee police officer with what police termed a “clear, rigid, feminine pleasure device.”

Women’s Residential Services is a program for chemically dependent women offered through the Lake County Health Department.

If convicted, Bildsten faces up to one year in jail and fines up to $2,500.

CHICAGO (CBS) – A Chicago man has been charged with drunk driving in a hit-and-run that killed another motorist who was waiting for a tow truck while standing on the shoulder of the Stevenson Expressway.

Fernando Almaraz, 40, has been charged with one count of aggravted DUI, according to Illinois State Police. Additional charges might be filed after his first court appearance.

Almaraz, of the 5400 block of South Ellis Avenue, allegedly was behind the wheel of a white pickup truck that struck and killed Enrique Lopez, 32, Thursday night as he was standing on the shoulder of Interstate 55 near Damen Avenue, police said.

Lopez had been driving on the Stevenson and experienced mechanical problems with his vehicle, so he had parked on the right shoulder and stood outside to wait for a tow truck.

Almaraz allegedly was drunk as he was driving along the Stevenson and struck Lopez around 10:15 p.m. Thursday, then fled the scene. Lopez was severely injured in the crash and pronounced dead at 11:34 p.m.

A person who saw Almaraz cross the solid white “fog line” and strike Lopez and leave called 911, and gave a description of the striking vehicle, according to a Chicago police report.

Police found the truck about 15 minutes after the wreck in Chicago in the 5400 block of South Ellis Avenue, police said. When he was stopped, officers detected a “strong odor of alcoholic beverage’’ on his breath, and the man had bloodshot and glassy eyes and his speech was slurred, a police report said.

An open can of Modelo beer with some left inside was found in the vehicle. The motorist submitted to and failed all field sobriety tests given, according to the report. The man was taken into custody and as of 2 a.m. Saturday charges were still pending, according to ISP District Chicago Trooper Ivan Bukaczyk.

An autopsy on Friday confirmed that the victim had died from multiple injuries suffered when a motor vehicle struck him. His death was ruled an accident, according to the medical examiner’s office.

(The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.)

SKOKIE, Ill. (STMW) – A young man from Chicago was sentenced to 10 years in prison Friday, one week after pleading guilty in a fatal drunk-driving crash last June in Wilmette.

Szymon Zawadzki, 20, of 5135 W. Addison St., Unit 2, entered a guilty plea to aggravated driving under the influence involving a personal injury traffic crash in Cook County 2nd District Circuit Court, Skokie, according to a news release from Wilmette police Cmdr. Patrick Collins.

Zawadzki was sentenced to 10 years in prison, which he must serve 85 percent before being eligible for parole, and fined for the aggravated DUI involving a fatal traffic crash, according to the release. He also was sentenced to three years, to run concurrent with the aggravated DUI charge.

At 2:33 a.m. June 28, 2010, the Wilmette Police Department investigated a fatal traffic crash on the 700 block of Sheridan Road. Zawadzki was driving a black Nissan Maxima south on Sheridan at a high rate of speed when it veered off the road, struck a fire hydrant and then a tree.

Two back-seat passengers were dead on the scene; a third back-seat passenger was critically injured. A front-seat passenger was treated and released.

Back in November 2010, the estate of one of the people killed in the car crash, Veronica Frances Rojas, filed a wrongful death suit against Zawadzki claiming he was drunk and speeding before the accident.

The suit, which sought more than $100,000 in damages, claimed that Zawadzki was drunk, speeding and failed to keep a proper lookout while driving.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2010. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

BRIDGEVIEW (STMW) – A southwest suburban police officer was sentenced to six years in prison Monday for a December 2009 DUI crash that killed a 29-year-old man on the Stevenson Expressway.

Eddie Stapinski had bloodshot eyes, reeked of alcohol and spoke with slurred speech after crashing into 29-year-old Chinatown IT worker Mike Wong on Dec. 20, 2009, prosecutors said. His car was going 80 mph when it struck and killed Wong, they alleged on Dec. 22, when he was ordered held on $750,000 bond.

Stapinski, a Lockport police officer, was initially charged with reckless homicide and aggravated DUI, but on Monday pleaded guilty to aggravated DUI and was sentenced to six years by Judge Colleen Hyland, Cook County State’s Attorney’s office spokesman Andy Conklin said.

Stapinski was drinking at West End, a bar at 1326 W. Madison while watching a Blackhawks game the night of the crash, sources said.

At his bond hearing, prosecutor John Carroll said Stapinski told police he was driving 80 mph southbound on I-55 near Cicero when he hit the median, launching his car into the northbound lanes.

Stapinski admitted drinking “a few beers” between 6 and 9 p.m. that night, and a witness saw him weaving in traffic shortly before the 9:35 crash, Carroll said.

The first trooper at the accident noticed Stapinski seemed drunk, but he refused a Breathalyzer, Carroll said. A test taken at the emergency room soon after showed he had a blood alcohol level of 0.223 — nearly three times the legal limit of 0.08.

Stapinski was initially placed on paid leave pending an internal investigation by Lockport police.

Wong, a Chinese immigrant and IT worker, was driving home from his second job at a Far South Side restaurant when Stapinski’s vehicle veered across the median and crashed into his vehicle head-on.

Pulled from the wreckage of his mangled car, Wong died less than an hour later at Mount Sinai Hospital, police said.

CHICAGO (STMW)– The family of a man killed in an alleged drunken driving crash in January filed a wrongful death lawsuit Wednesday against the driver accused of causing the crash.

The suit claims motorist Leo Stevens was killed, and passengers Michelle Johns and Sabrina Stevens were injured, in a Jan. 23, crash on Cicero Avenue in Burbank when their southbound 1999 GMC Yukon was struck by a 2004 Ford Expedition traveling north in the southbound lanes, according to a suit filed in Cook County Circuit Court.

The driver of the Expedition, Francisco Chaidez, 38, of the 7700 block of South Keating Avenue, was charged with two counts of aggravated DUI for the crash at 8500 S. Cicero Ave. in Burbank, police said.

Stevens, 38, of 2338 N. Central Ave., died Jan. 23 at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.

Police said a 36-year-old woman and 15-year-old girl inside the Yukon were also taken to Christ Medical Center.

Prosecutors said Chaidez first went to Tailgator’s Sports Bar at 9300 S. Cicero Ave. in Oak Lawn to watch the Bears game and drank about eight beers and one shot. He then drove to Murphy’s Law bar at 9247 S. Cicero Ave. in Oak Lawn, where he drank more beer.

After leaving Murphy’s, Chaidez fell asleep in his car. When he woke up, he drove north on Cicero without his headlights on. He crossed into the southbound lane, nearly striking a vehicle. That vehicle had to swerve out of the way to avoid a collision, court records show.

Chaidez then continued to drive north and smashed head-on into the Yukon, court records indicated.

Steven’s wife — the front seat passenger — suffered a broken wrist and pelvis, records show. She will require several surgeries to repair the broken bones. Their daughter suffered minor injuries, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Chaidez’s blood alcohol level was measured at .291. He also admitted to police that he was drinking prior to driving.

The suit claims Chaidez drove too fast, didn’t keep a proper lookout, drove without headlines and was driving in the wrong lane.

Michelle Johns and Sabrina Stevens are seeking more than $200,000 from Chaidez and more than $250,000 from both Tailgators Sports Bar and Murphy’s Law.

© Sun-Times Media Wire Chicago Sun-Times 2011. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

CHICAGO (STMW) — A woman had a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal driving limit when she crashed her sport-utility vehicle head-on into a car early Saturday on the West Side — killing two people and injuring nine others, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors on Monday said those hospitalized suffered brain and lung injuries, broken bones, fractures, back injuries and lacerations.

Kimberly L. Bradley, 39, of the 1300 block of North Parkside Avenue, is charged with two counts of aggravated DUI involving an accident resulting in death, seven counts of aggravated DUI involving an accident resulting in great bodily harm, and one count of DUI involving an accident resulting in great bodily harm to a passenger under 16, police said.

Judge Israel Desierto on Monday set bond at $250,000 and a preliminary hearing for May 20. Police said Bradley remained hospitalized Monday afternoon.

The crash happened about 3 a.m. Saturday when a 2003 Mazda SUV with 11 people inside traveling north in the 1300 block of South Kostner Avenue swerved across the center lane into oncoming traffic and struck a 1995 Ford Probe head-on, police said.

Bradley was trying to pass the vehicle in front of her car when she struck the other vehicle, prosecutors said.

The crash caused the SUV to flip over, throwing some passengers who were not wearing seatbelts out of the vehicle and entrapping others, Fire Media Affairs Director Larry Langford said.

Eight ambulances were dispatched to the crash, where responders found one person dead, Langford said. All 11 people in the SUV were injured, police said, while the driver of the Ford — the only person in the car — was not hospitalized.

Jarrell Billingsley, 19, of the 5900 block of W. Walton St., was pronounced dead at 3:50 a.m. at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Lasarrah Hart, 20, of the 1400 block of S. Avers Ave., was pronounced dead at 3:52 a.m. at Stroger Hospital, according to the medical examiner’s office.

A Tuesday autopsy determined both Billingsley and Hart died of cervical injuries from a vehicle collision and the deaths were ruled accidents.

Prosecutors said Bradley’s blood alcohol content after conversion was .165. She gave a handwritten statement admitting to drinking beer that night and confirming that she was the driver. She told police she lost control of the SUV and the vehicle flipped numerous times.

In addition to the felonies, Bradley was charged with misdemeanor counts of DUI, driving on a suspended license and DUI-blood alcohol content 0.08. She was also cited for driving to the left of center and operating a motor vehicle without insurance, court records said.

Bradley received two years probation in 2004 for a forgery conviction, court records said.

© Sun-Times Media Wire Chicago Sun-Times 2011. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

Updated 07/07/11 – 6:10 p.m.

CHICAGO (CBS) – A West Pullman man has been charged with drunk driving in a hit-and-run that killed a 52-year-old woman in the Back of the Yards neighborhood on Tuesday.

Sam Manyfield, 69, has been charged with aggravated DUI, reckless homicide and leaving the scene of a fatal accident, police said. He was also cited with two counts of DUI, hitting a pedestrian in the road, driving on a suspended license and driving without insurance.

Police News Affairs Officer Ronald Gaines said Mayfield’s blood alcohol level was “extremely high” at the time of the crash.

Manyfield, of the 400 block of West 126th Street, was ordered held on $350,000 bond at a bond hearing Thursday afternoon.

He was allegedly drunk behind the wheel of a Jeep Cherokee when the vehicle struck Yvonne Williams as she was trying to cross the 4600 block of South Ashland Avenue at 8:50 a.m. Tuesday, police said.

Police stopped the Jeep in the 1600 block of West 45th Street and took Manyfield into custody.

Williams, of the 5500 block of South Justine Street, was pronounced dead at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County at 9:33 a.m. on Tuesday.

(The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.)

CHICAGO (STMW) – A suspected drunken driver who was shot by police early Friday after fleeing officers who found him passed out with a gun in a Jeep on a South Loop street has been charged.

Tyshaun Hunter, 31, of the 1600 block of North McVicker Avenue, was charged with obstruction of traffic by motorist; driving on suspended license; no insurance; driving under the influence of alcohol; possession of a controlled substance; aggravated DUI for having a suspended or revoked license; aggravated fleeing; armed habitual criminal; armed violence; and fleeing and attempting to elude police, according to a Sunday release from police News Affairs.

He was booked into Cook County Jail Friday after being denied bond during a hearing in Cook County Criminal Court, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s office. Hunter is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on Tuesday, according to the sheriff’s office.

Police shot the suspect at 2:47 a.m. in the 400 block of South Leavitt Avenue, News Affairs Officer Ron Gaines said.

The incident began at 2:32 a.m. when Central District officers were called to a report of a drunken driver in the 800 block of South Clark Street, according to a statement from police.

As officers approached the vehicle matching the description, they noticed the driver, later identified as Hunter, “passed out” in a red Jeep Cherokee, and saw a gun in the car, according to a police source.

The statement said as officers stepped away from the vehicle and called for assistance, Hunter awoke and drove away from the scene.

Hunter took off, leading police on a chase that went onto several downtown streets and “up and down the Eisenhower,” the source said.

Officers temporarily lost sight of the vehicle but picked up the chase again after other officers spotted the vehicle and continued the pursuit that eventually ended at Leavitt and Van Buren streets, where Hunter’s SUV was curbed, the source said.

As officers curbed it, officers were confronted by Hunter inside of the vehicle, causing an officer to shoot the suspect in the arm, according to the statement.

Hunter was taken to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. No officers were reported injured and a weapon was recovered, the statement said.

Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Pat Camden said the suspect reached for a weapon on his front passenger seat after his vehicle got a flat fire and came to a stop. He allegedly pointed the weapon at an officer, who fired and struck him in the elbow, Camden said.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2010. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

CHICAGO (STMW) – A Joliet woman was charged with aggravated DUI after she hit a barrier and struck a bicyclist with her car on the Near West Side after allegedly downing six vodka drinks in two hours, officials said.

The North Lawndale bicyclist was in critical condition and on a ventilator after Sheila Kane’s 2008 Mercury Sable hit the barrier and flipped over before crashing into him Thursday in the 2000 block of West Madison, prosecutors said Sunday in a bond hearing.

With a blood alcohol content of .201 — more than twice the legal limit of .08 — Kane allegedly admitted to police that she had three vodka drinks before driving but refused to provide blood and urine samples, according to a police report.

Police noted Kane’s alleged bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and smelled alcohol on her breath once she was at the hospital, and witnesses said they saw Kane consume six drinks, prosecutors said.

Kane, 30, is being treated at Stroger Hospital for a fractured vertebra but her lawyers want her transferred to Northwestern Memorial Hospital for additional treatment.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2010. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

CHICAGO (STMW) – A speeding motorist high on marijuana and angel dust dived head-first into a shocked stranger’s car through the driver’s side window, then bizarrely yelled to chasing cops that “the pancakes are on the floor,” authorities say.

Charles Farris, 21, was spotted by police weaving in and out of traffic on the 4300 block of West Division Friday afternoon, prosecutors say.

He ran a red light, hit a stopped car and crashed into a fence, before running to another stopped car and jumping in through the driver’s side window, it’s alleged.

Police arrested him after he made his strange reference to pancakes, according to the report. Though “pancakes” can be used as street slang to refer to crack cocaine, cash or a woman’s breasts, it wasn’t clear from the report what Farris meant.

He tested positive for marijuana and PCP following his arrest, prosecutors said.

Charged with two counts of aggravated DUI, aggravated reckless driving, resisting arrest, leaving the scene of a crime and a laundry list of traffic offenses, Farris, of the 1300 block of North Lockwood, was ordered held on bail of $50,000 Sunday.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2010. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

JOLIET, Ill. (CBS) – A Michigan man pleaded guilty to drunk driving on Monday in a crash that killed his girlfriend at Balmoral Park Racetrack last April.

Angus Lake, 42, was set to go on trial on Monday, but pleaded guilty to aggravated DUI just 10 minutes before the jury trial was to begin, according to Will County prosecutors. He was charged in the crash that killed Eustis, a 25-year-old horse trainer from Crete, and injured 21-year-old Heather France of Three Rivers, Mich.

Will County Judge Richard Schoenstedt scheduled sentencing for March 15. Lake faces up to 14 years in prison.

Prosecutors have said Lake was engaged to Michelle Eustis, the 25-year-old trainer killed in the accident. But her father, Chuck Eustis III, has strongly denied that, saying Lake and Angus had only been dating a few weeks. He said after Monday’s hearing he can’t get his daughter’s death out of his mind.

Michelle Eustis, 25, was killed in by an alleged drunk driver while riding a horse at Balmoral Park Racetrack on April 11, 2011. Police said her fiancé was the driver. (Credit: CBS)

“I think about this every day of the week,” Chuck Eustis III said. “I go see my daughter at her grave site every day of the week.”

He said his 7-year-old granddaughter, Hayley, is doing all right despite losing her mother, but things are “totally different.” He suspects they’ll stay that way at least until Lake is sentenced.

Lake’s plea apparently came as a surprise, as France said prosecutors flew her to Chicago from West Palm Beach, Fla., anticipating a trial. The more she thought about it, though, the more she said it made sense.

“How can you not plead guilty to something that’s clearly your fault?” France said.

Lake’s blood-alcohol level after the accident was 0.147, prosecutors said, nearly twice the legal limit. They’ve also said Lake was engaged to Eustis, but her father has said that’s not true. He said they were only dating a few weeks and that his daughter would not get engaged without telling him.

Lake’s public defender declined to speak to a reporter after Monday’s hearing.

Lake had “five or six shots” before he went looking for France and Eustis at the Crete racetrack April 11, prosecutors said. The women left a gathering in a barn to ride a horse named Rendezvous. Lake’s truck came upon them on Backstretch Road shortly after 5 a.m.

“We should probably get off to the side more,” France said she told Eustis when Lake’s white Dodge Ram appeared behind them, “because I don’t know if he can see us.”

Lake hit the brakes hard, prosecutors said, and his truck started to spin. He hit the horse and left a gouge in its back.

Both women were thrown from the animal, and Eustis suffered head trauma and died. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office ruled her death an accident.

France, meanwhile, broke her shoulder, leg and ankle. Nearly two months after the accident, she told Sun-Times Media she’d lost days of her memory and could barely walk.

France said Monday she’s walking again, and she wears a brace to work a new job in Florida.

(The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.)

CHICAGO (STMW) – An off-duty Chicago Police officer charged in a deadly drunken driving accident wasn’t intoxicated and was only trying to avoid the 13-year-old boy riding his bike on the wrong side of Ashland when the officer struck and killed him, the cop’s attorney said at the first day of his trial Tuesday.

Richard Bolling, 42, passed all field sobriety tests before he was given a Breathalyzer test following the May 22, 2009 accident at 81st and Ashland, Tom Needham said in his opening statements.

Bolling has asked “for no special favors” and was in a state of “complete horror, fear and grief” when fellow officers told him Trenton Booker had died, Needham said.

But prosecutors painted a different picture. Before he heard about the fatality, all Bolling cared about was the damage to his Dodge Charger and when he could eat the White Castle meal officers found next to an open bottle of beer in his car, assistant Cook County state’s attorney Ashley Romito said.

Bolling didn’t undergo field sobriety tests until two hours after the accident and he wasn’t given a Breathalyzer test until 4 ½ hours later, Romito said.

His blood alcohol level registered at .079 — just a bit shy of the .08 legal intoxication level. Had Bolling been given the test sooner, his blood alcohol level would have been higher, Romito argued.

Bolling, who is expected to take the stand during the trial, admits he consumed a mixed drink and bottle of beer with friends at a South Side bar before the fatal wreck, Needham said.

The officer also grabbed a bottle of beer the bartender had given him on the way out and took a few sips, Needham said.

But Bolling was far from intoxicated when he drove southbound on Ashland, Needham said, saying that the Breathalyzer test was not accurate.

Trenton and a friend were riding their bicycles northbound on the southbound lanes on Ashland when Bolling swerved, trying to avoid hitting them, Needham said.

Bolling kept driving at a high rate of speed after he hit Trenton, sending him airborne like a helicopter, Romito said.

“He should of stopped but he didn’t. He was in a state of shock,” Needham explained.

Trenton’s mother, Barbara Norman, wept as she testified Tuesday that she didn’t know her son had snuck out and was riding his bicycle at 1:30 a.m.

Miles Roberts, who had just left a nearby dance club, said he was irritated to see two boys riding their bicycles on a sidewalk well past curfew.

But what he saw next was even more horrifying.

“I heard a loud thump,” Roberts said, describing the impact between Bolling’s speeding Charger and Trenton’s bicycle.

“I screamed, ‘No!’”

Bolling has been charged with reckless homicide, aggravated DUI and leaving the scene of an accident.

The trial continued Tuesday afternoon.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

CHICAGO (CBS) – An 18-year-old man was charged with felony drunk driving for a crash involving a Chicago Fire Department fire engine earlier this week in the West Pullman neighborhood, in which nine people were injured.

Tuesday evening, a fire engine crashed into the passenger’s side of a 1996 Nissan Maxima when the car pulled in front of it at the intersection of 128th Place and Halsted Street as firefighters were responding to an emergency call nearby.

Three children and two adults in the Nissan were hospitalized in serious to critical condition, according to the Fire Department. Four firefighters were hospitalized in good condition.

The driver of the car, 18-year-old Christopher Caston, of Dolton, was initially charged with misdemeanor DUI and cited for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle, driving without proof of insurance and failing to stop at a stop sign. But the DUI charge was upgraded to felony aggravated DUI on Thursday, police said.

Caston was scheduled for a bond hearing Thursday afternoon.

A witness who tried to help the victims after the crash said the driver told him he did not hear a siren.

“He said that he saw the lights coming into the intersection, but it was too late,” Alex Parker said. “He said he didn’t hear no siren.”

Parker said the truck gave a blast with its air horn as it collided with the car.

Fire Department spokesman Will Knight said the engine was responding to an emergency call.

Knight said whether the siren was in use will be one of the focuses of the investigation, but declined further comment on the details of the accident citing the possibility of lawsuits.

(The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.)

Updated 02/12/12 – 2:54 p.m.

ADDISON, Ill. (STMW) – Officials filed charges against a motorist accused of killing a man and hurting an Illinois State Police trooper Saturday in a wreck on the Eisenhower Expressway in west suburban Addison.

Daniel C. Clark, 32, faces one count of aggravated DUI involving death and one count of aggravated DUI involving great bodily harm, according to a Saturday night release from DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert B. Berlin.

The fatal wreck happened after a State Police trooper pulled over an eastbound vehicle on the Eisnehower Expressway (I-290) near Mill Road a little before 1 a.m. to assist a non-injury traffic accident involving 42-year-old Frank S. Caruso of Oak Brook, Illinois State Police spokeswoman Maria Navarro said.

The trooper reportedly activated his emergency lights and positioned his vehicle to block the left two lanes of traffic.

Caruso was placed in the rear seat of the squad car, to keep warm, State Police said.

About 1:15 a.m., a 2010 Chevrolet Impala allegedly driven by Clark rear-ended the vehicle, authorities said.

Caruso was taken to Elmhurst Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:15 a.m., according to State Police Elgin District Master Sgt. Bart Lamb,

“This is a tragic loss of life allegedly caused by a man who believed he was able to drive after he had been drinking,” Berlin said in the release.

Clark was taken to Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Hoffman Estates with non-life-threatening injuries, and the trooper was taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood with a possible concussion, Lamb said.

© Sun-Times Media Wire Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WHEATON, Ill. (STMW) – A Chicago man charged with DUI after allegedly crashing into a parked State Police car, killing a civilian keeping warm inside after a crash, was ordered held on $1 million Sunday in DuPage County.

Daniel C. Clark, 32, of Chicago, was charged Saturday with one count each of aggravated DUI involving death and aggravated DUI involving great bodily harm, according to a statement from DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert B. Berlin.

The DuPage County Sheriff’s office also said he was cited with failure to yield to emergency vehicles and driving too fast for conditions / failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.

On Sunday, Clark appeared in DuPage County Bond Court in Wheaton and was ordered held on $1 million bond and must post $100,000, according to the sheriff’s office.

Clark is accused of crashing into an Illinois State Police vehicle early Saturday on the Eisenhower Expressway (I-290), killing a civilian sitting in the back of the State Police vehicle to stay warm following an earlier wreck.

A State Police trooper had stopped on the Eisenhower Expressway near Mill Road near Addison just before 1 a.m. Saturday to help 42-year-old Frank S. Caruso, who had been involved in a non-injury accident, Illinois State Police spokeswoman Maria Navarro said.

The trooper reportedly activated the vehicle’s emergency lights and positioned the vehicle to block the left two lanes of traffic.

State Police said Caruso was sitting in the back seat of the police car to keep warm when a 2010 Chevrolet Impala driven by Clark rear-ended the police car.

Caruso was taken to Elmhurst Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:15 a.m. Saturday, Illinois State Police Elgin District Master Sgt. Bart Lamb said. The DuPage County Coroner’s office said the victim lived in Brookfield.

“This is a tragic loss of life allegedly caused by a man who believed he was able to drive after he had been drinking,” Belrin said in the release. “People have got to learn that far too often drinking and driving can be a deadly combination. If someone you know has been drinking, do not get behind the wheel of an automobile. Call a cab or get a ride from someone who hasn’t been drinking. Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Mr. Caruso in their time of loss.”

The trooper was taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood with a possible concussion, Lamb said. The trooper is expected to fully recovered, Berlin said in the release.

Clark was initially taken to Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Hoffman Estates with non-life-threatening injuries, Lamb said.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

CHICAGO (STMW) – Bond was set at $400,000 on Wednesday for a Blue Island man charged with DUI in a fatal chain-reaction crash with a CTA bus and a beer truck Monday afternoon.

Walter Thompson, 30, allegedly tried to run away from the wreck after the 2006 Hyundai Santa Fe he was driving crashed in the 1400 block of West 115th Street about 3 p.m., according to police News Affairs. He was later arrested at 118th Street and Ashland Avenue and taken to MetroSouth Medical Center in Blue Island in “stable” condition.

Thompson, of the 12900 block of Page Court in Blue Island, is charged with one count of aggravated DUI involving a fatal accident, and one count of aggravated DUI involving and accident causing bodily harm, according to police News Affairs.

Thompson was ordered held on $400,000 bond on Wednesday and a preliminary hearing was set for $500,000, Cook County State’s Attorney’s office spokesman Andy Conklin said.

Thompson was already issued traffic citations for the deadly crash, including DUI, damaging city property, driving with a revoked license and three counts of leaving the scene of an accident, according to police News Affairs.

One man was killed and four other people were hurt during the chain-reaction crash that sent five vehicles careening into each other and nearby pedestrians, police said. Police claim Thompson was driving the Santa Fe westbound at a high rate of speed when it hit a 1997 Ford Aerostar minivan, which then struck a 2002 Pontiac Bonneville. The Santa Fe then wedged itself between two other vehicles — a CTA bus that had stopped to unload passengers, and a beer truck being unloaded by a worker, police said.

The worker — identified by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office as 45-year-old Charles Kimbrough — was pinned between the beer truck and the CTA bus, police said.

Kimbrough, of the 14000 bock of South LaSalle Street in Riverdale, was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn where he was pronounced dead at 3:53 p.m., according to the medical examiner’s office.

The beer truck also lurched forward during the crash and struck a second pedestrian, a 64-year-old man who was taken to Christ Hospital in “stable” condition, police said.

The 66-year-old man driving the Aerostar, the 32-year-old man driving the CTA bus and a passenger on the bus were also injured, police said. They were all taken to Roseland Community Hospital in “stable” condition.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

JOLIET, Ill. (STMW) – The man responsible for killing a 10-year-old girl in a 1999 drunken-driving crash admitted Monday he drove under the influence again in 2010.

Glen R. Higginbotham, 33, of Braidwood, faces up to 10 years in prison now that he’s pleaded guilty to aggravated DUI, Will County Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak said. He also pleaded guilty to aggravated driving on a revoked license, a felony carrying a potential prison sentence of three years.

The judge set a June 12 sentencing hearing.

Higginbotham got seven years in prison for reckless homicide after the May 1999 crash in downtown Lockport that killed 10-year-old Candace Graham. Police said he was legally drunk and had cocaine in his system at the time.

Officers caught Higginbotham drunk behind the wheel again on Dec. 4, 2010, on Nicholson Street in Joliet. He faced trial Monday, but chose to enter a plea instead. He still faces another set of drunken-driving charges after he was arrested Christmas Day.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)