Crime & Safety
Police Say Boozer Was Snoozing Instead of Cruising
Officers had to shatter a car window to wake a drunken man who they said they found on the side of a dark roadway, passed out behind the wheel of his idle car.
Tinley Park officers 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 Feb. 14. Even so, his head returned to a bent position and his eyes closed quickly, according to the report. That led police to contact emergency responders.
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.
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"The vehicle had no driving or parking lights on and due to the roadway being unlit … presented a dangerous roadway hazard," an officer wrote in the report. "… I approached the Dodge and observed the sole occupant of the vehicle to be in the driver's seat with his eyes closed."
The officer knocked loudly on the driver's side window, roof and door of the car, he said.
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"Varichak briefly opened his eyes and held up his left hand toward me and displayed his middle finger," the report said. "Varichak then lowered his left hand, closed his eyes and remained still."
All of the doors to the vehicle were locked.
A cop used a "police emergency tool" to break out the passenger side window of the vehicle, according to the report.
"I opened the passenger side door and Varichak opened his eyes and said, "What the f--- are you doing?" the report said.
The officer took the key from the car's ignition and asked Varichak to perform field sobriety tests. Emergency responders left the scene. 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.
His bail was set at $1,000.
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