It started with a burglar alarm call. Forest Park, Illinois police were already heading to Suburban Liquors on Madison Street early Sunday morning when a second call came in from a witness who’d seen something more specific: a car had just driven into the front of the building, and the driver was walking away westbound — apparently on foot and apparently in a hurry.
When officers arrived at the 7612 Madison Street address, they found a vehicle that had hit the building hard enough to deploy the airbags and leave the car undrivable. The storefront was significantly damaged. The driver, meanwhile, was not present — which is never a great look.
It didn’t take long. Officers located a man matching the witness’s description nearby, detained him, and brought him back to the scene. The same witness who’d called it in took one look and confirmed: that’s the guy. At that point, the only question left was how the evening had gone this badly.
Up close, officers noted the usual indicators — strong odor of alcohol, bloodshot and glassy eyes, unsteady footing. A standardized field sobriety test followed, which the man failed. He then agreed to a breathalyzer and blew a .152, nearly twice the legal limit in Illinois.
What Officers Found in the Car
A search of the vehicle turned up one item of note: an insurance card that had expired well over a year ago.
That detail didn’t improve the overall situation.
The Charges
The 30-year-old Chicago man was cited for DUI and processed on a felony criminal damage to property charge.
He was later released after signing a pretrial release conditions bond.
The Walkaway That Wasn’t
This is the part of the story that doesn’t go as planned. Leaving the scene of a crash you caused, especially one that triggered a burglar alarm and produced a witness, is a gamble that rarely pays off.
In this case, the suspect made it about as far down Madison Street as it took for police to arrive.