Rolling Meadows Driver With 16 DUIs Gets 16 Years

ROLLING MEADOWS, IL — A Rolling Meadows man was sentenced to 16 years in prison Wednesday following his 16th conviction for drunken driving. Christopher Clingingsmith pleaded guilty to driving under the influence stemming from a collision with a party bus last year in Des Plaines, according to the Daily Herald.

Clingingsmith's DUI convictions stretch back to 1982, and he was convicted three times in one year in Will County, which led to him serving a jail sentence of five years and two months, the report stated. He did have a 1999 DUI conviction reversed on appeal, the report added.

Clingingsmith's 16th conviction stemmed from an incident on June 7, 2017, in Des Plaines. That's when he hit a party bus and then left the scene of the accident. Once Arlington Heights police caught up with him, officers said Clingingsmith admitted to drinking seven beers.

RELATED: Man With 16 DUIs Held Without Bond Over Latest Arrest

Cook County Judge Joseph Cataldo sentenced Clingingsmith to 15 years for driving under the influence, and the judge gave him a one-year, concurrent sentence for driving with a suspended license, the report stated. Clingingsmith also received a consecutive year sentence for driving with a suspended or revoked license from running into a traffic pole March 17 in Arlington Heights, the report added.

During the proceedings, Cataldo remarked that 16 DUI convictions were the most any of the officials in the Rolling Meadows courthouse had known of any person receiving, the Herald reports.

More via the Daily Herald

Christopher Clingingsmith (Photo via Cook County Sheriff's Office)