Articles Posted in Speeding

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Edward Stapinski, 36, was facing reckless homicide charges after his 2009 DUI crash, but those charges were dismissed after he plead guilty last Monday to aggravated driving under the influence. Stapinski was sentenced at the Bridgeview Courthouse to six years in prison of which 85 percent must be served.

Stapinski was off-duty when he was arrested for his DUI accident in December of 2009. According to prosecutors, Stapinski was going 80 mph heading south on the Stevenson when he swerved into the left shoulder and struck the concrete median. His vehicle catapulted over the barrier into the opposite lanes of traffic and struck a vehicle driven by Man K. “Mike” Wong. Wong was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Stapinski admitted to drinking beer at a West Loop bar from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. He declined a Breathalyzer test at the scene of the crash but responding officers reported he had a strong smell of alcohol, his eyes were bloodshot and he had slurred speech. Blood analysis done at the hospital showed his blood alcohol level to be 0.223 percent, which is more than three times the legal limit.

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Jeff Kuna, 38, started teaching driver’s education and physical education on August 21, 2008. But after hearing about his recent DUI arrest, Valley View School District reportedly swapped his classes so he isn’t teaching driver’s education any longer. Kuna is also the Romeoville High School’s head football coach.

Kuna was arrested on February 20, 2011 for driving under the influence and speeding on Route 126 and Schlapp Road. He was pulled over with three passengers in his car at 3:12 a.m.

If convicted, Kuna could face up to one year in jail, $2,500.00 in fines and have his driver’s license revoked.

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Jose Rodriguez, 21, plead guilty for driving under the influence and was sentenced to 24 months of probation.

Rodriguez was charged with aggravated DUI after he hit an off-duty FBI agent who was driving to a Labor Day half-marathon. The agent, Elizabeta Petruc, will likely have to be out of work for 12-18 months due to the injuries caused by the accident. Her left wrist, ankle and legs were broken, one knee was also badly damaged. Both cars caught fire after the accident.

Evidence showed that Rodriguez had been driving 60-70 mph when he struck Petruc’s vehicle and his blood alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit. Rodriquez apologized through in interpreter in court. He will have to participate in an alcohol safety program and perform 100 hours of community service.

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Eric T. Maschmeier, 20, was paroled a little over a year ago for a six-year prison term for a botched armed robbery attempt. According to the Illinois Department of Corrections website, he was released from prison on January 13, 2010.

On February 9th of this year, Masschmeier was arrested on DUI charges after he flipped his white Chevrolet Impala into a snowbank south of 75th Street in Naperville. After the crash, Maschmeier and a female passenger allegedly escaped the wreckage uninjured, fled on foot and called a friend to give him a ride home. Police were able to locate and arrest him after they determined he was driving under the influence.

An eye-witness estimated that Maschmeier was speeding at over 100 mph.

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Cecil R. Conner Jr., 22, is charged with the several counts of aggravated drunk driving for a crash that killed his girlfriend’s 5-year-old son. However, his defense attorney is blaming the Chicago Heights police officer who gave him the keys to the car and allowed him to drive to the police station. En-route to the police station, Conner drove off the road and crashed into a tree.

Prior to the crash, the boys mother Kathie Lafond, was pulled over and taken into custody for driving on a suspended license. The police stated Conner appeared to be sober and that LaFond gave her boyfriend permission to take the car with the child strapped into the booster seat. Conner’s attorney stated that his client was “obviously drunk” but was still ordered to take the car and that the officer threatened to arrest his client if he didn’t leave.

Conner was allegedly driving 75 mph in a 35 mph zone and had a blood alcohol level twice the legal limit.

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Michael Adam Musick, 47, of Buffalo Grove was pulled over by police on January 6 for allegedly speeding 37 mph in a 25 mph zone. After an officer attempted to issue him tickets for speeding as well as driving without a license, Musick allegedly became verbally combative with the officers and refused to sign the tickets.

The Buffalo Grove officers left the tickets on Musick’s windshield and returned to their vehicles, but Musick allegedly tried to block them from pulling away. After the officers went around his vehicle, he allegedly chased and tailgated them in his SUV. Musick was pulled over again by the officers with their weapons drawn and removed from his vehicle. As a result, he was additionally charged with reckless conduct.

Buffalo Grove man arrested for chasing cops, www.suntimes.com, January 18, 2011

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Aileen Beernink faces a potential prison sentence after her third arrest for Driving Under the Influence of alcohol. She is also accused of driving with a revoked or suspended license, driving under the influence of drugs and driving without insurance.

Beernink was spotted by a patrol officer driving with her headlights off. The officer determined she was under the influence of an unspecified narcotic and had an invalid drivers license.

Beernink was previously arrested on June 18 on two counts of DUI and multiple traffic offenses. Court records show she was placed on a year of court supervision and assessed over $2300 in fines and legal cost in that case. She was also arrested in 2008 by Naperville police in separate cases involving drug charges and driving too fast for conditions. Beernink was ticketed in 2009 for driving without headlights and earlier this year for driving too fast for conditions. She is also the defendant in a civil lawsuit filed in August where she is accused of damaging a man’s vehicle during a traffic crash.

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Elisha Clark, 25, of Grayslake was pronounced dead at the scene after a high speed DUI related crash.

Donald Mischke, 54, was fleeing police after allegedly breaking into a Target store and stealing a flat screen television set. Mischke allegedly used his vehicle to ram the front door of the Target store just enough to break in. The officer who spotted Mischke loading the television into his car tried to stop his car near the store but the defendant drove off at a high rate of speed. The officer stopped her persuit when the defendant turned onto a road with heavy traffic. Mischke allegedly ran a red light at Belvidere Road in Waukegan, striking the driver side of Clark’s vehicle.

Mischke was charged with driving under the influence of drugs after his blood tested positive for cocaine. Mischke previously lost his driver’s license after a 1994 DUI conviction and he has been convicted of driving on a revoked license three times.

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Reginald Hearon, 50, could find himself serving up to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to felony DUI and reckless homicide charges stemming from the deadly Kane County crash in 2008.

Hearon driving work at the Illinois Youth Center in St. Charles on the day of the crash when his van slammed head-on into an on-coming car as he allegedly tried to pass several vehicles on a two-lane highway. Craig Smith, 53, from St. Charles was killed in the collision.

A crash reconstruction concluded that Hearon was going at least 10mph over the speed limit and blood test taken after the crash found that he had alcohol, morphine and codeine in his system.

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Kelli and Jessica Uhl were killed in the November 2007 accident cause by former Illinois State Trooper Matt Mitchell.

Mitchell, who was responding to another accident, was driving at 126mph through busy traffic on Interstate 64 while sending and receiving emails and talking to his girlfriend on his mobile phone. He crossed the median and hit a car carrying four girls head on, killing two of the girls and injuring the other two.

Mitchell is now asking the state to compensate him for his injuries. Mitchell was suspended for nearly two years after the accident, but still drew his $68,000 annual salary.

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