Riverside police in recent days arrested two men who the police say admitted they were drinking while driving.
One of the drivers allegedly was doing shots of Irish whiskey and the other was allegedly drinking beer and had an ice chest full of the beverage in his car, police said in a news release.
The two were arrested as the western suburb’s police force stepped up enforcement of traffic laws in anticipation of the upcoming holiday.
Edward Lopez, 25, of the 2600 block of Grove Avenue in Berwyn, was charged with felony aggravated drunken driving, driving while license suspended, speeding, driving with open alcohol and several other traffic violations, police said.
Lopez also was wanted on a warrant issued by the North Riverside Police Department for allegedly driving while his license was suspended after a prior DUI conviction, police said.
Lopez was stopped about 3 a.m. Friday after police witnessed his car allegedly weaving on Harlem Avenue and going 54 mph in a 35-mph zone.
Lopez, who told police his license was suspended because of a DUI arrest, failed sobriety tests. Police found a half-empty bottle of Jameson Irish whiskey in his car, and, according to the news release, Lopez said “he had been drinking shots earlier in the evening and continued to drink them while driving,” according to the news release.
Eugene A. Garza, 33, of the 1900 block of West 34th Place in Chicago, was charged with DUI, speeding, transportation of open alcohol, possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia after he was arrested early Saturday, police said.
Garza was stopped about 2:15 a.m. after police clocked him going 50 mph in a 30 mph zone on Ogden Avenue while he was allegedly weaving and crossing a double-yellow line.
Garza allegedly told police he had been drinking at a Berwyn bar all night and had stopped on the way home to buy more beer, which admitted drinking while driving. In his car, police found open cans of beer and an ice chest full of beer, according to the news release.
At the police station, Garza’s blood-alcohol level was registered at .19, almost 2 1/2 times the legal intoxication level, police said. While searching Garza’s car further, police recovered marijuana and drug paraphernalia for smoking marijuana, police said.
“We have just begun the week of Thanksgiving and already have removed impaired drivers from the roadways,” Riverside police Chief Thomas Weitzel said in the news release. “In both of these arrests, the drivers stated that they were out early celebrating Thanksgiving with friends and family but decided to drive home intoxicated. Not only did they get into their vehicles intoxicated but continued to drink while driving home. . . . It is time for this sociably acceptable pattern of behavior of drinking and driving to stop.”
