South Suburban DUI Arrests, March 4

Feb. 24: Police pulled over a driver around 11 p.m. who they said was swerving across the lane lines on Harlem Avenue near 175th Street in Tinley Park. Stephanie C. Buckner, 33, of the 11200 block of Lakefield Drive in Orland Park, was arrested after failing field sobriety tests, polie said. She told police she had a couple of beers, according to the report. She was charged with driving under the influence, improper lane use and operating an uninsured motor vehicle. Her bail was set at $1,000.

Feb. 22: Police arrested Raygenna Cook, 55, of the 700 block of East South Street in Chicago, around 10:30 a.m. in the 17600 block of Harlem Avenue in Tinley Park. She was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and improper lane use. Officers were alerted to Cook's erratic driving by a witness who was driving behind her vehicle, according to the report. Police said Cook was swerving all over the roadway and striking curbs on either side of the street. She agreed to give police a breath sample at the scene and also submitted to a blood test, according to the report.

Feb. 2: Officers charged a local woman with drunken driving after they found her sitting in her idle car, which she stopped four houses away from where she lived, the report said. Marlene J. Meier, 45, was covered in vomit, police said, and sitting in her running car around 9:30 p.m. in the 16700 block of Oketo Avenue. "I advised Marlene that she had vomit all over the front of her shirt and she stated, 'No I don't,'" the report said. "I observed Marlene's speech to be slurred. I also observed an odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from Marlene's breath as she spoke." When police asked Meier for her driver's license, she allegedly told them it was "in her purse somewhere," police said. However, she was holding it in her hand, according to the report.

Feb. 26: Robin Reimer, 46, of the 15300 block of Kilpatrick in Oak Forest, was charged with driving under the influence of drugs and driving without insurance. She was stopped at 2:38 p.m. in the 12400 block of Ridgeland Avenue after swerving between lanes, police said.

Feb. 25: Willie Green, 31, of the 6900 block of Indiana in Chicago, was charged with drunken driving. He was stopped at 1:53 a.m. in the 12500 block of Harlem Avenue for speeding, police said. He had a strong odor of alcohol on his breath and failed field sobriety tests, police said.

Feb. 25: Jordan Rotman, 21, of Zeeland, MI, was charged with drunken driving. He was stopped at 3:12 a.m. after swerving between lanes, police said. He failed field sobriety tests, police said.



Feb. 25: Gregory E. Podobnik, 19, of the 22500 block of South Country Lane in New Lenox, was charged with underage drinking, possession of drug paraphernalia and speeding after a traffic stop in the 21600 block of Higley Court. His court date is April 12.

Feb. 23: Robert Duffield, 57, of the 400 block of South Main Avenue in Kankakee, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence, illegal transportation of alcohol, driving with a revoked license revoked, driving without insurance and improper lane use after a traffic stop near the intersection of Harlem Avenue and Lincoln Highway. He was booked in to Will County Jail where he is still being held on $4,500 bail.

Feb. 18: James P. Zegley, 52, of the 7300 block of Yorktown Road, was charged with driving under the influence, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, improper lane use, failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident and driving without insurance after flipping over his car in the 21200 block of Longview Drive. Frankfort Police officers were called to the scene around 9:30 p.m. after a witness saw Zegley's blue Thunderbird cross in front of him, hit a tree and flip over, said Cmdr. Kevin Keegan. The witness said Zegly fled the scene after the crash, Keegan said. No one was injured in the accident, Keegan added.

Feb. 15: Police saw an SUV in a construction area parked on top of a pile of metal rebar in the 14200 block of LaGrange Road around 12:05 a.m. The driver’s breath smelled like alcohol, he swayed while walking, he admitted to drinking and failed field sobriety tests, police said. Peter J. Stewart, 26, of the 2200 block of West 122nd Street in Blue Island, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, driving under the influence with a blood-alcohol level greater than .08, improper lane use and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.

Feb. 10: Police pulled over a van for driving outside lane lines in the 15100 block of Wolf Road around 1:40 a.m. The driver’s breath smelled like alcohol, and a passenger said a cannabis pipe seen in the car belonged to him, police said. Officers later found a bag of cannabis inside the car, police said. The driver failed field sobriety tests, police said. Gregory S. Bates, 24, of the 11620 block of 139th Street in Orland Park, was charged with driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol and improper lane use. Sean M. Boyle, 24, of the 14600 block of Maplecreek Drive in Orland Park, was charged with possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.



Feb. 25: Rafael Vega Cosme, 29, of the 100 block of Broadway Avenue, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol after police stopped him at a gas station on Halsted Street for speeding, according to the report. As police approached his vehicle, Cosme said "What do you want," according to the report. After smelling alcohol, police performed sobriety tested and asked Cosme if he had been drinking, to which he responded, "Yeah." Cosme did not pass the sobriety tests and was taken into custody, police said.

Feb. 19: Hector Munoz-Navarro, 24, of the 200 block of 14th Place in Chicago Heights was charged with driving under the influence, illegal transportation of alcohol, no valid driver’s license, improper lane usage and speeding. Police said they smelled alcohol on Munoz-Navarro’s breath after stopping his car near his home, around 3:30 a.m., for speeding and swerving. He failed a Breathalyzer exam, according to the report.

Feb. 25: Gregory E. Podobnik, 19, of the 22500 block of South Country Lane in New Lenox, was charged with underage drinking, possession of drug paraphernalia and speeding after a traffic stop in the 21600 block of Higley Court in Frankfort. His court date is April 12.

Feb. 26: Francis Maher, 29, of Worth, was charged with drunken driving and no insurance. He was stopped at 1:30 a.m. on Roberts Road for driving without lights, police said. He failed a field sobriety test, police said.

Feb. 20: Alexander D. Mendez, 53, of the 8600 block of Glenshire Street in Tinley Park was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, DUI of drugs, DUI combination of alcohol and other drugs, disobeying red traffic signal, failure to yield, illegal transportation of alcohol and leaving the scene of an accident. Witnesses told police that a car later identified as Mendez’s caused an accident in the intersection of 191st Street and LaGrange Road around 6:30 p.m. and drove off. Minutes later, he was stopped by New Lenox police and arrested by Mokena police after refusing to take field sobriety tests. Items logged on the inventory tow report included prescription medication and a bottle of “yellow-brown” alcohol.

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.