Crime & Safety

South Suburban Drunken Driving Arrests, Jan. 1

Christmas "spirits" lead to arrests. Getting slap happy with officers. And that guardrail looks like a nice spot to park the car. The latest drunken driving arrests in the Southland.

Dec. 17: Police arrested a 44-year-old Frankfort man last weekend who told them he was leaving a Christmas party when he was found driving on the shoulder. John M. Lewandowski, of the 600 block of Locust Street in Frankfort, was swerving all over the roadway in the 18200 block of Harlem Avenue, driving on the shoulder and cruising 60 mph in a 45 zone, according to the police report. When the cops turned on their emergency lights at 12:30 a.m. Dec. 17, Lewandowski kept driving, they said. He turned on 191st Street in  and then into Brookside Marketplace, where police had to sound the squad's air horn twice before getting Lewandowski to pull over, the report said. He was taken to the  where he blew a .213 on the Breathalyzer around 1:20 a.m., the report said. He was charged with improper lane use, speeding, operating an uninsured motor vehicle, driving under the influence of alcohol and driving under the influence with a blood-alcohol content greater than 0.08.

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Dec. 13: Police pulled over a car after seeing it turning without signaling and crossing over the center line at Wolf Road and Bernard Drive, around 1:45 a.m. He slurred his speech, gave police an expired insurance card and gave a state ID card that wasn’t his, police said. Police later found his driver’s license, with a different name on it than he told police, according to the report. Christian J. Madrid, 20, of the 16500 block of Brenden Lane in Oak Forest, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, driving an uninsured vehicle, failure to signal while turning, improper lane use, displaying another person’s identification, obstructing identification and consumption of alcohol by a minor.

Dec. 11: Police pulled over a car for speeding and driving through a stop sign in the 14000 block of Chelsea Drive. The car continued driving after the officer put on emergency lights and pulled into a driveway, according to the report. The officer smelled alcohol on the driver’s breath and he admitted to drinking, police said. Barry M. Oriente, 57, of the 14000 block of Chelsea Drive in Orland Park, was charged with driving under the influence, driving under the influence with a blood-alcohol level greater than .08, speeding and disobeying a stop sign.

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Dec. 9: Police pulled over a car after it turned onto 143rd Street driving east while in the westbound lane near LaGrange Road around 1:35 a.m., and then veered around the concrete median to drive east in the correct lane. The driver’s breath smelled like alcohol and he failed field sobriety tests, police said. Daniel E. Montgomery, 33, of the 8900 block of Bilboa Street in Orland Park, was charged with driving under the influence, driving under the influence with a blood-alcohol level greater than .08, driving without a license and improper lane use.

Dec. 8: Police were called about a car that crashed into a guardrail near 159th Street and 104th Avenue around 2:40 a.m. The car was driving north on 104th when it crashed, causing extensive damage to the car’s front, deploying airbags and cracking the concrete in which the rail was placed, police said. The officer smelled alcohol on the driver, but was unable to perform field sobriety tests with her because she was taken to Silver Cross Hospital, according to the report. April A. Molinari, 26, of the 18800 block of Rosewood Lane in Mokena, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, driving with expired registration, driving an uninsured vehicle and damaging a highway.

Dec. 11: Two men face charges for switching places in the driver's seat after leaving the scene of an accident earlier this month. Peter Rodriguez, 44, of faces charges of driving under the influence, leaving the scene of an accident and permitting an intoxicated person to drive. Kristopher Zitta, 22, of Peotone, is accused of driving with a suspended license and driving under the influence.  drove to 95th Street and Melvina Avenue Dec. 11, after a woman called around 7:30 p.m. to say her car had been rear-ended by another. Police said the woman followed men’s car and saw both men get out and switch places after the accident. .



Dec. 20: Theodore Bennett, 44, of the 1200 block of West End, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol after police said they found him inside his car, which was running. Police approached the vehicle and Bennett shifted it into drive, reports said. After Bennett refused to shift the vehicle back into park, the officer pulled his gun out and demanded it, to which Bennett complied, police said. Police found two brandy bottles and one whiskey bottle in Bennett's vehicle. He was also charged with driving on a suspended license and illegal transportation of alcohol.



Dec. 24: Kristine L. Carruth, 21, of the 10600 block of Williamsburg Trail, was charged with driving under the influence, failure to signal and speeding after a traffic stop between Laraway Road and Regency Drive. Her court date is Feb. 7.

Dec. 22: Ediene Shaddon, 37, of the 200 block of Morgan Court in Manhattan, was charged with driving under the influence and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident after an incident near the intersection of Harlem Avenue and Lincoln Highway. Shaddon's court date is Feb. 3.

Dec. 15: Kenneth J. Gray, 78, of the 1500 block of Andrea Drive in New Lenox, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, illegally transporting alcohol and resisting arrest following a car accident in Frankfort. Cmdr. Kevin Keegan said officers responded to an accident at Laraway and Pfeiffer roads at 7:37 p.m. Keegan said Gray was driving northbound on Pfeiffer and went through the stop sign at Laraway, colliding with another driver. Keegan said Gray was "belligerent" when police tried to assist him. A half-empty bottle of Skol Vodka was found in the car, Keegan said, and Gray had glossy eyes and had appeared to urinate himself while driving. When police tried to give Gray a field sobriety test, he continuously slapped away the officer's hands and threatened to punch the paramedics.

Dec. 16: All in the matter of hours, a Frankfort man was arrested twice in Mokena on Dec. 16 and slapped with 13 offenses related to drunken driving, fighting and destruction of police property. Police said they stopped a car in the 19900 block of LaGrange Road at 1:20 a.m. for squealing tires during a turn and swerving between lanes. Officers smelled alcohol, according to the report, and asked the driver if they knew why they stopped him—to which he replied, “Yeah, I was kind of all over the road.”

Dec. 11: When police responded to a crash at 99th Street and Kedzie Avenue, they found it was called in by a driver who drove under the influence of alcohol. Renee M. Blottraux, 49, of Oak Lawn, drove one of the cars in a two-car crash, according to police. At around 7:51 p.m. as the officer spoke to Blottraux, he noticed she had red blood-shot eyes, slurred speech and smelled of alcohol. “The officer had her walk back to his squad car, and she was falling on the ground,” police said. When asked how much she had to drink, police said, Blottraux “stated that she had a few drinks for her birthday, 6 or 7 shots and a beer.” Based on the officer’s observations, it seemed equivalent to a DUI, police said. Blottraux refused to take a Breathalyzer test at the scene, according to reports. Police charged Blottraux with failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident and driving under the influence of alcohol. According to reports, she crashed into another car in traffic and no one was hurt.

Dec. 22: Thomas M. Elliott, 39, of 14200 block of Union Avenue in Orland Park, was charged with driving under the influence, improper lane usage and failure to yield proper drive. Police said they stopped Elliott’s car in the 11800 block of Southwest Highway at 12:14 a.m. after quickly pulling out of a parking lot and changing lanes without a signal. He was arrested after failing field sobriety tests, according to the report.

Dec. 19: Carolyn Carr, 46, of the 10300 block of Mansfield Avenue in Oak Lawn, was charged with child endangerment. Police said they arrested Carr outside St. Alexander Parish around 7:45 p.m. after they were told she had been drinking and then driving with children in her car.

Dec. 23: Pawel Janik, 35, of Palos Park, and Katarzyna Landowska, 32, of Des Plaines, were charged with drag racing. The pair were racing each other down Roberts Road at 2:20 a.m., police said. After they were stopped, Janik failed field sobriety tests and was also charged with driving under the influence, police said.  

Police report information is provided by local police departments. Charges are not evidence of guilt. They are a record of police actions on a given day, and persons charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. If you or a family member are charged or cited and the case is subsequently adjudicated, we encourage you to notify the editor. We will verify and report the outcome.


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