Unfortunately, driving drunk is all too common in the United States. Scarily enough, every day there are about 300,000 drunk drivers on the road, but fewer than 4,000 get arrested. However, this holiday season the cops in Chicago are cracking down on inebriated offenders.
In the beginning of December, an intoxicated Orland Park man was caught after hitting a school bus and driving away. Sean Gill, 23, hit the bus from behind, then drove up next to the driver, made eye contact, then sped away. Luckily only the bus driver and a school attendant were on board at the time, and neither were injured.
After driving away, police put out an alert with the description of Gill and his car. He was spotted and then arrested for drunk driving on December 5. His blood alcohol content was three times the legal limit of 0.08.
A few weeks later, a Posen man was taken into custody after he rammed his vehicle into several parked cars. Wesley Rodgers, 32, suffered minor injuries, but three of the four passengers in his car died as a result of the incident. The fourth is still in the hospital in critical condition.
Rodgers was charged with three counts of aggravated DUI causing death, and one count of aggravated DUI causing great bodily harm. He has since posted bail, and is currently walking free.
Lastly, just a few days before Christmas, a drunk driver was arrested in Mettawa for crashing into a parked squad car in the early hours of December 23. The parked car was protecting the scene of an auto accident, and Lauren R. Kimbrell, 27, of Waukegan was found to be driving drunk after she pummeled both the parked car and another car from the initial accident.
While no bystanders were injured, Kimbrell was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, illegal transportation of alcohol, and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident as well as multiple other traffic violations. Additionally, as a result of the circumstances, she may face additional charges for endangering the lives of emergency and construction workers on the scene.
Kimbrell was released at the scene of the crime, and is scheduled for a February 1 court date.
