Drunk driving charges can vary depending on the circumstances. If a person causes property damage or injures another person while driving drunk, the penalties for drunk driving can significantly increase.
One Chicago-area man is facing serious drunk driving charges following an accident. According to police, the 32-year-old man from Kenosha was driving an SUV one morning when he lost control over the car. At around 4:00 a.m., his car left the road and hit a nearby house. Police say that as a result of the impact the car started on fire which quickly spread to the house.
Police allege that the man fled the scene of the accident and hid under a nearby truck. When that truck’s owner was about to leave for work, police say the man was discovered and fled again. He was eventually arrested a short time later after police found the man in a nearby marsh. The man was then taken to a local hospital, but later taken to a jail in Lake County.
Subsequently the man was charged with leaving the scene of an accident, driving without a valid license, aggravated driving under the influence and driving with a revoked license. He is being held in lieu of bail which was set at $250,000.
A person can face aggravated DUI charges in a number of different situations. If people have minor children in the car with them, if they have an extremely high blood alcohol content level, if they have multiple convictions or if they have a revoked or suspended drivers’ licenses then DUI charges may be upgraded. In these circumstances, the penalties can be more severe and include larger fines and longer jail or prison sentences.
Source: Chicago Tribune, “Kenosha man held on $250K after fiery crash in Hainesville,” Deanese Williams-Harris and Carlos Sadovi, Oct. 27, 2013
