Dad Driving Drunk Injures Child During Northfield Crash, Police Say

NORTHFIELD, IL — A Chicago man injured his child in a rollover crash while driving drunk Sunday in Northfield, authorities said.

Charles Holland, of the 600 block of North Leamington Avenue, provided samples indicating he had nearly three times the legal limit of alcohol in his system after the crash, according to police and prosecutors.

Holland, 51, crashed into a stop sign and electrical lighting control cabinet box around noon, authorities said. He was still in the driver's seat when officers on patrol arrived after spotting the crash, according to Assistant State's Attorney Nic Attia.

"Officers also observed the windshield to be cracked and roof to have damage, indicating that the vehicle had rolled over in the crash," Attia said Monday at Holland's initial court appearance.

Holland's 13-year-old child, who was the front-seat passenger at the time, suffered cuts and scratches in the crash, according to the prosecutor.

Police reported Holland smelled of alcohol, had red, glassy eyes and, during field sobriety tests, "displayed numerous clues of consumption and impairment of alcohol," Attia said.

A test taken at the police station more than 30 minutes later indicated Holland's breath alcohol concentration was 0.232, according to Attia.

Police reported both occupants declined medical attention from paramedics, though Holland's injuries were later treated at a hospital.

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Prosecutors charged Holland with four felony counts of aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol — with a suspended license for a previous DUI, without liability insurance, while transporting a child under 16 and while involved in a crash that injures a child — as well as two counts of misdemeanor DUI and citations for traffic offenses and damaging village property.

Sunday's arrest is Holland's third in connection with an accusation of drunken driving, with a 2014 arrest resulting in a supervisory sentence. He also has two convictions and two guilty pleas in exchange for supervision on charges of driving with a suspended license, as well as five bond forfeiture warrants, according to prosecutors.

Following Monday's bond hearing, Holland was ordered detained at Cook County Jail to await trial unless he can come up with $7,500. He is due back in court March 7.