Crime & Safety

South Suburban DUI Arrests, Jan. 19

Start the New Year off right. Don't get charged with drunken driving like these drivers. Check out the arrests in this week's Southland roundup.

JAN. 1: A Chicago Heights man is off to a tough start for the new year.

Mark Southall, 47, of the 200 block of Eddy in Chicago Heights, received multiple charges, including a DUI, after police pulled him over in the 19200 block of Halsted Street just before 6:30 p.m. on New Year’s Day, according to reports.

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Homewood police say an officer began following Southall after he noticed him driving in the middle of the lanes during snowy road conditions while headed southbound in the 18800 block of Halsted Street. The officer pulled him over after running his plate and learning he was driving with a suspended license.

Cops say Southall got out of his car “in an aggressive manner” and immediately started walking over to the squad car. The responding officer said his breath smelled of alcohol, and that he was slurring his speech and having a hard time balancing, according to reports.

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Southall initially denied drinking any alcohol, but then later admitted to “drinking a few,” police say. He also told police that he was a precinct captain and that he worked in Chicago Heights. When that didn’t work, Southall tried to bargain his way out of the arrest by claiming he is friends with police officers, according to reports.

Since it was snowing outside, the responding officer could only administer one field test, which Southall failed, reports say. He was arrested for his suspended license and taken to the Homewood Police Department for more sobriety testing.

Once back at the station, police put Southall through four field sobriety tests—all of which he failed, according to reports. While Southall denied taking a chemical breath test, police say he claimed to have drank "two beers" prior to getting on the road.

Southall was charged with driving with a suspended license, operating an uninsured vehicle and driving under the influence of alcohol.

OAK LAWN

JAN. 5: An Oak Lawn woman was accused of drunken driving after police spotted her Ford Escape swerving and driving at a high rate of speed around 2:38 a.m., reports said.

Oak Lawn Police clocked the 2012 Ford Escape traveling at 45 mph in a 30-mph speed zone from Kostner to Kedvale on 103rd Street, police said.

Observing snow covering the Escape’s rear registration plate, the officer activated his emergency lights as the car turned right on Pulaski Road.

According to the report, the car increased its speed to 45 mph and swerved over a lane marker. The Escape entered the right lane without signaling, then slowed down because of another vehicle stopped in the right lane.

Police sad the car turned right, heading westbound on 105th Place, but stopped in the middle of the street because a snowplow was blocking the street.

The officer met the driver, later identified as Jillian Lindquist, 30, of the 9700 block of Southwest Highway in Oak Lawn.

Lindquist’s hands moved slowly as she provided her driver’s license and an expired insurance card, police said.

She allegedly denied seeing the patrol car’s activated emergency light. The officer said that her eyes appeared glassy and bloodshot, and that her speech was slurred.

Police said Lindquist denied that she had been drinking or increased her speed when she saw the patrol car’s emergency lights.

Asked why she smelled of alcohol, Lindquist allegedly told the officer, “because I’m a bartender.” Reports said that she turned her face away from the officer when informed he could smell alcohol on her breath.

Lindquist refused to take field sobriety tests, reports said. She estimated her speed at 40 mph, police said.

Officers said they recovered a consumed bottle of hard apple cider on the floor behind the passenger seat

She was placed under arrest for DUI. At the Oak Lawn police station, police said that Lindquist refused to take chemical and Breathalyzer tests.

While being searched, booking officers recovered a partial orange tablet of in a ziplock baggie in Lindquist’s purse, later identified on drugs.com as amphetamine and dextraoamphetamine. Police said Lindquist denied the tablet being hers, but that no one else had access to her purse.

She was charged with two counts of DUI, speeding, failure to yield to an emergency vehicle, no proof of insurance, and illegal transportation of an alcoholic beverage.

Lindquist appeared in bond court later in the day.

PALOS HEIGHTS

JAN. 12: Michael Aitchison, 35 of the 15600 block of Calypso in Orland Park, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. He was stopped in the 13000 block of Harlem Ave. after officers observed him speeding, police said. Aitchison had a strong odor of alcohol and failed field sobriety tests, police said. He was also charged for not having insurance.

JAN. 8: Basim M. Ismail, 27, of the 7800 block of S. Normandy in Burbank, was charged with drunken driving. He was stopped at 12:38 a.m. in the 13100 block of Harlem Ave. for driving without his headlights on, police said. He failed field sobriety tests, police said.

OAK FOREST

JAN. 10: An Oak Lawn woman who was pulled over early Friday morning with open bottles of Jägermeister and tequila in her car had a blood-alcohol content almost five times over the legal limit, according to Oak Forest police.

Migle Demars, 31, of the 10300 block of Mayfield Avenue in Oak Lawn, was charged with driving under the influence, DUI over 0.08, transportation of opened alcohol and obstructing traffic after an officer stopped her in the 4700 block of 159th Street.

At around 5:30 a.m. Friday, Jan. 10, an Oak Forest police officer noticed Demars weaving in and out of traffic and driving 20 mph in a 40-mph zone as she traveled eastbound along 159th Street in a 2005 white Pontiac Vibe, according to the report. The officer began tailing her, turned on his emergency lights, and Demars changed lanes into the curb lane and stopped as she reached the Oak Forest Health Center entrance, the report added.

The officer reported smelling a strong odor of alcoholic beverage and noticed Demars' eyes were bloodshot and watery. He also saw an open Jägermeister bottle on the passenger seat, the report stated. When the officer asked if she had been drinking, Demars said she had but "not too much," the report added.

After failing field sobriety tests, Demars was arrested for DUI and taken to the Oak Forest police station, the report stated. A search of her SUV uncovered the opened Jagermeister bottle and an open bottle of Jose Cuervo tequila, the report added.

Demars was given a breath test at the station, which registered a blood-alcohol content of .370, the report stated. The legal limit is 0.08.

Demars is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 20 at Bridgeview Courthouse.

MOKENA

DEC. 29: A Chicago woman was warned by friends at a party and a Mokena Police officer that she’d be arrested for drunk driving if she drove, and was later arrested for driving drunk, according to a Mokena Police report.

Christie M. Powell, 47, of the 5200 block of S. Keating, Chicago, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, driving under the influence with a blood-alcohol level greater than .08 and improper lane use.

Police were called about a woman trying to leave a residence in the 11300 block of Abbey Road around 8:15 p.m. Other people there were asking her not to drive because she had been drinking, according to the report. The responding officer spoke to the woman and noticed her breath smelled like alcohol, she slurred her speech and had difficulty maintaining balance, police said. The woman, Powell, was told not to drive by the officer, and that she could be arrested if she did so.

About three minutes after leaving the residence, the officer was told that Powell was driving away from the house in a black Chevy SUV. The officer saw the vehicle and followed her, and saw her cross lane lines while driving, according to the report. The officer then pulled her over in the 20700 block of Wolf Road, police said.

Powell failed field sobriety tests and was arrested.

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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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