Crime & Safety

South Suburban DUI Arrests, April 15

Name-Dropping Anita Alvarez: It was a slow week for Southland drunken driving arrests. But what we lack in volume, we make up for in excitement — and stupidity.

April 7: A chase down Harlem Avenue ended with handcuffs and a curse-laden attempt to drop names to avoid arrest.

A brawl at Bobby McGee's, 10139 S. Harlem Ave., in Chicago Ridge, drew police from , ,  and Worth as backup.

Tiffany Enriquez, 25, of the 9500 block of Central Avenue in Oak Lawn, struck a Palos Heights police car as she backed out of a parking space, police said. A Palos Park officer tried to stop her from leaving, but she ignored him and sped away, police said. A Palos Park officer attempted to pull her over on Harlem Avenue and she only accelerated her car, police said. Enriquez finally stoppedat the bottom of the 95th Street ramp.

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After stopping, Enriquez told the officer: "F--- you, my aunt works for Anita Alvarez, you can't do s---." Enriquez showed signs of impairment and refused to submit to field sobriety tests, police said.

April 9: Alberto Ortega-Tapia, 42, of the 300 block of West 15th Street in Chicago Heights was arrested on a DUI charge at about 12:15 a.m., according reports. Police say Tapia’s vehicle was westbound on 15th Street at a high rate of speed and slid through a stop sign. When he was pulled over during a traffic stop, Tapia told police he had five beers, according to reports and he was unable to perform field sobriety tests. Tapia was also cited for disobeying a stop sign, no valid driver’s license, no insurance and alcohol concentration of .08 or more.

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April 7: Nakisha Daniels, 22, of the 1200 block of South Halsted in Chicago Heights was arrested on a DUI charge near the intersection of 14th Street and 5th Avenue, according to reports at about 3:21 a.m. No further information was immediately available.

April 6: Antonio Garcia, 46, of the the first block of East Main Street in Chicago Heights was arrested on a DUI charge at 10:48 p.m. near 25 E. Main St., according to reports. No further information was immediately available.

April 6: Rodriguez, 31, of Steger, was arrested on a DUI charge near 16th Street and Wentworth Avenue, according reports. Police said Rodriguez’s vehicle was pulled over after officers observed it weaving through traffic at about 4:53 p.m. Officers reportedly noticed that Rodriguez smelled strongly of alcohol, had bloodshot eyes and officers had to help him out of his van and hold him up.

April 5: Esmeralda Lopez, 43, of the 1900 block of Circle Court in Chicago Heights was arrested and charged with DUI at about 4:43 a.m. in near 14th Street and East End Avenue. No further information was immediately available.

April 5: Donal Burns, 22, of the 12000 block of Bishop in Chicago, was charged with drunken driving. He was stopped for speeding at 2:20 a.m. and failed a breath test, police said.

April 4: Mark Smith, 36, of the 12900 block of Golf View in Palos Heights, was charged with drunken driving. He was stopped for speeding at 1:07 a.m. and failed field sobriety tests, police said.

March 31: Felony DUI charges were filed earlier this month following an accident that sent one man to the hospital with broken ribs, a collapsed lung and bruising on his heart. Joseph P. Maas, 45, of the 15400 block of Treetop Drive in Orland Park was charged with two counts of aggravated DUI, failure to reduce speed to avoid accident and improper lane usage. Police said Maas , sending himself and a 60-year-old man to Silver Cross Hospital. According to the report, blood tests measured Maas’ blood-alcohol level at 0.236—nearly three times the legal limit. The man Maas hit suffered broken ribs, a collapsed lung, bruising on his leg and lacerations to his face, police said, and he was having trouble, when police interviewed him the next day, remembering what happened.

April 4: Steven A. White, 39, of the 13100 block of West Route 6 in Mokena was charged with driving under the influence, driving with BAC greater than 0.08, disobeyed traffic control device, improper lane usage and operation of an uninsured motor vehicle. Police said White refused to take field sobriety tests—but later failed a Breathalyzer—after blowing a stop sign at Francis Road and Front Street and drifting between lanes, around 11:30 p.m.

April 10: James Allen, 48, of the 19200 block of Chestnut Drive in Country Club Hills was charged with driving under the influence, speeding and no valid insurance. Police said Allen failed field sobriety tests but refused a Breathalyzer after stopping his car near 183rd Street and Martin Avenue just before midnight for speeding. Allen was driving a rental car at the time—that was later towed—and was unable to provide proof of his own insurance, according to the report.

April 8: Lawrence Bonner, 47, of the 19700 block of Westphalia Street in Detroit, MI, was charged with DUI, driving with BAC greater than 0.08, illegal transportation of alcohol and following too closely. Police said Bonner failed field sobriety and breath tests after stopping his car near 165th and Halsted streets around 1 a.m. for following an officer’s squad car “dangerously close.” Two open bottles of beer were found in his car, according to the report.

April 6: Ryan Kelley, 29, of the 21900 block of Central Park Avenue in Park Forest was charged with driving under the influence, driving with BAC greater than 0.08, no headlights and illegal operation of sound amplification system. Police said Kelley failed field sobriety and breath tests after stopping his car near Birch Road and Harwood Avenue around 1 a.m. for driving without headlights and blasting music discernible from at least 75 feet away.

April 7: Police arrested a Frankfort man Saturday night after they got a tip from another driver saying he was "all over the roadway" near the intersection of Oak Park Avenue and 171st Street in Tinley Park, they said. Officers said the man, Carlos J. Davila, was driving suspiciously—at one point, hesitating to start moving after a traffic light and crossing over the center lanes, and another, making a U-Turn on Oak Park Avenue. When they asked Davila, of the 19500 block of South Skye Drive, where he was coming from, he reportedly told them, "work in Summit." They said his eyes were bloodshot and watery. He failed field sobriety tests, according to the report, and blew a .158 on the Breathalyzer. He was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, driving under the influence with a blood-alcohol content greater than 0.08 and improper lane use. His bail was set at $3,000.

April 6: Bruce Galassini, 42, of Tinley Park, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and improper lane use. Police responded to a car accident near Cedar Road and Route 6 and said they discovered Galassini had been drinking. Neither Galassini nor the driver of the other car were injured. 

March 25: Police charged Mark D. Matke, 19, of Evergreen Park with disobeying a traffic control device, no proof of insurance and illegal transportation of alcohol. According to reports, Matke was also charged with possession of marijuana, drug paraphernalia, driving under the influence of alcohol, driving while in possession of marijuana and underage consumption of alcohol. Police responded to a call of a suspicious car at 93rd Street and Kedzie. Avenue, reports said. According to police, after police stopped Matke for running a red light, they recovered 1.3 grams of marijuana, two glass pipes, one wooden pipe and an open beer can.

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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