Wine Rides Shotgun with DUI Driver Arrested in School Zone: Police

A Riverside police officer who stopped an erratic driver speeding through a school zone at 8:33 a.m. Jan. 4 spotted a half-empty bottle of wine next to the driver during the traffic stop on Forrest Avenue, near Hauser Central School.

The officer also reportedly smelled alcohol on the man’s breath and the scent of cannabis emanating from the car, according to Riverside police.

Edward C. Bartlett, 26 of the 400 block of W. Mifflin Street in Madison, Wisconsin, was reportedly going 43 mph in the 20 mph school zone. He failed all field sobriety tests, and he was arrested.

Bartlett was charged with DUI alcohol, DUI drugs (cannabis), speeding in school zone, no vehicle insurance, improper lane usage and possession of open alcohol by a driver, police reported.

A search of Bartlett’s car uncovered open bottles of tequila, vodka and three more open bottles of wine.

At the Riverside police station, Bartlett refused a Breathalyzer and urine testing, but he acknowledged he smoked cannabis before he got it in car that morning, police reported. He said he was he was headed home from a casino in Des Plaines.

“The fact that this was at 8:33 in the morning in a school zone is alarming,” said Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel in a statement. “This traffic stop was made by an officer who was specifically assigned to the school zone to ensure the safety of children who were being dropped off. Fortunately, the officer was on scene in a marked car and was able to stop the vehicle before he either injured or killed an innocent pedestrian or motorist.”