South Suburban DUI Arrests, Feb. 26

Editor's note: one name was removed from this article as charges were dropped.

Feb. 16: Lino Ferrer, 24, of the 100 block of Delores Street in Oswego was arrested on charges of driving under the influence near the intersection of 14th Street and Western Avenue. The incident happened at about 3:41 a.m., according to reports.

Feb. 12: Kenneth Goodwin, 44, of the 800 block of Mary Byrne Drive in Sauk Village, was charged with DUI after a traffic stop near Independence and Chicago roads around 3:20 a.m. Police said Goodwin's eyes were watery and bloodshot and when asked how much he had to drink, he replied "one beer" and held up three fingers. Officers said he amended his answer to "well, maybe three" and was taken into custody.

Feb. 12: Eduardo Aceves, 22, of the 100 block of 23rd Street, was charged with driving under the influence after officers said they saw him traveling 65 mph in a 45-mph zone for about three blocks at about 4:05 a.m. Aceves also crossed the yellow center median line dividing northbound and southbound State Street lanes, striking the concrete media with his driver's side tire, according to reports. When he was pulled over, police said Aceves told them he had "two beers and some."

Feb. 11: Tracy Mack, 31, of the 21600 block of Peterson Avenue in Sauk Village, was charged with DUI at about 1:28 p.m. Officers said Mack ran a stop sign and then sped south down Halsted Street near Main Street. After she was pulled over, officers said they noticed her eyes were watery and bloodshot and her clothes were disorderly. Mack told police she only had one drink, according to reports.

Feb. 9: Tyler Loyde, 20, of the 6400 block of Kenwood Avenue in Chicago was arrested on DUI charges and was citied for several traffic violations. Officers reportedly saw Loyde's car eastbound on West 14th Street at Aberdeen without any registration or license plates. During the traffic stop, police observed a strong odor of alcohol and watery, bloodshot eyes, according to the report.

Feb. 10: Alyssa L. James, 21, of the 14100 block of Pheasant Lane in Orland Park was charged with driving under the influence and improper turn. Police said they stopped James’ car in the 9500 block of 151st Street around 2 a.m. for drifting and nearly striking a median during a wide turn. She was arrested after failing field sobriety tests, according to the report.

Feb. 9: Renee E. Swafford, 48, of the 11400 block of Stratford Road in Mokena was charged with driving under the influence, operating an uninsured motor vehicle and improper parking on the roadway. Police said they found Swafford passed out behind the wheel of her car, in the intersection of Wolf Road and 167th Street, around 7:30 p.m. According to the report, she smelled of alcohol and was arrested after refusing to take field sobriety tests.

Feb. 5: Ignas Jocius, 26, of the 7800 block of 97th Street in Hickory Hills was charged with DUI and driving on sidewalk. Police said they were called to the 9100 block of Sutton Court around 7 p.m. about an argument and found Jocius’ car parked on the lawn. He reportedly told police he was lost and then failed field sobriety tests.

Feb. 21: While charging a man with driving under the influence this past week, police also arrested his female passenger. Denise Toms-Barrera, 50, of the 3900 block of West Collum Avenue in Chicago, was arrested Tuesday around 11:55 p.m. in the 19400 block of Harlem Avenue in Tinley Park. Police said Barrera was the passenger in a vehicle being driven by (removed), who was charged with possession of a controlled substance, driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, driving under the influence with a blood-alcohol content greater than 0.08 and improper lane use. Toms-Barrera began swinging on the officers after Flores was arrested, police said. .

Feb. 18: Robert J. Zieler, 57, of the 100 block of South 6th Street in Benld, was arrested around 11:10 a.m. near the intersection of 159th Street and 76th Avenue in Tinley Park, police said, where he was driving "down the middle of the roadway" with his left turn signal on when he wasn't turning. When stopped, officers smelled alcohol on Zieler's breath, according to the report, and he admitted to having "a few beers." One of the officers spotted two cans of Busch beer on the vehicle's floorboard. He was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, illegal transportation of alcohol, driving a vehicle with a defective windshield and improper use of a turn signal.

Feb. 14: Police broke the front, passenger-side window of a vehicle last week to get to a sleeping man who wasn't responding to police. They said New Lenox resident Joshua P. Varichak did, at one point, flip them off when they were trying to get his attention. Police initially stumbled upon Varichak's gray 2004 Dodge around 3:20 a.m. on the edge of the roadway on Southbound Ridgeland Avenue, they said. A cop used a "police emergency tool" to break out the passenger side window of the vehicle, according to the report. Varichak reportedly failed the tests and around 4 a.m., blew a .142 on the Breathalyzer machine. Varichak, 21, of the 12200 block of Cashlenan Lane in New Lenox, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, driving under the influence with a blood-alcohol content greater than 0.08 and improper parking on the roadway. .



Feb. 18: Vickie J. Burch, 50, of the 20500 block of South Green Meadow Lane, was charged with driving under the influence, making an improper turn at an intersection, improper lane use and driving in the wrong lane after a traffic stop near the intersection of LaGrange and St. Francis roads. Her next court date is March 6.

Feb. 16: Scott R. Bouton, 37, of the 9400 block of West Hawthorne Avenue in Mokena, was charged with driving under the influence, improper lane use, failure to signal and driving without insurance after a traffic stop in the 20100 block of LaGrange Road. His next court date is March 6.

Feb. 17: Jason Wiley, 33, of Alsip, was charged with drunken driving, possession of drug equipment and three traffic violations. Wiley was stopped at 2:15 a.m. after making a wide turn onto 103rd Street from Roberts Road, police said. Wiley failed a field sobriety test and had a small glass pipe with marijuana residue, police said.

Feb. 19: Dorothea Willingham, 32, of the 2500 block of 14th Avenue in Broadview was charged with driving under the influence, no insurance and speeding. Police said they smelled alcohol on Willingham’s breath after stopping her car in the 18100 block of Dixie Highway around 2:30 a.m. for speeding and driving on a flat tire. She was arrested after failing field sobriety tests and refusing to take a breath test, according to the report.

Feb. 16: Denae L. Boban, 28, of the 0-100 block of Cherry Hill Road in Joliet was charged with driving under the influence of drugs, failure to reduce speed to avoid accident, possession of drug paraphernalia and property damage. Police said Boban lost control of her car at Francis Road and Breckenridge Drive, striking a tree and stopping in a ditch, shortly after midnight. Boban told police and paramedics she had mixed alcohol and pills before getting behind the wheel, according to police. She refused, however, to give blood or urine samples at Silver Cross Hospital. Police said they found a pipe in her pocket.

Feb. 16: Frank Riha, 51, of the 11000 block of Wexford Drive in Mokena, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, illegally transporting alcohol and running a red light. Police stopped Riha on Laraway Road after they saw him ignore the stop light. Officers found a bottle of vodka in the car. Riha was given traffic tickets for the charges.

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.