Over the Sidewalks and Through the Yards, DUI Driver Goes: Police

Riverside, IL - An accused drunken driver left tire tracks and scared Riverside residents in his wake early Saturday morning as he rolled through sidewalks and yards, crashing into bushes and a retaining wall before police pulled him over.

Multiple 911 calls came in around 1:50 a.m. March 19 to report the erratic driver on Kimbark Road near Park Place, according to Riverside police.

The responding officer couldn't find the car at first but saw the damage it left behind.

When officers did track down the car in the 0-100 block of Forest Avenue, both front tires were blown out. The driver, Joseph T. Whetter, 28 of the 3400 block of 83rd Street in Woodridge, had the strong smell of alcohol on his breath, police reported.

As he stepped out of the car, Whetter fell down in the road.

Police report Whetter was so intoxicated, he couldn't stand up long enough to attempt field sobriety tests, and he had to be helped in moving from his car to the police car, as he was arrested for drunken driving, police reported.

Investigators found Whetter drove entirely on sidewalks and through front yards as he went southbound on Kimbark from Park Place. He hit a landscaping retaining wall at 63 Kimbark, bounced onto the road and to the parkway, according to police. He hit bushes and almost hit a "for sale" sign at 63 Kimbark before going back onto the road. He was pulled over and arrested on Forest Avenue.

After falling down during more sobriety tests at the Riverside police station, Whetter blew a 0.163 on a breath test, police reported.

Whetter was charged with DUI, failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, failure to report an accident to police authority, driving on the sidewalk, improper lane usage, driving while driver's license expired more than one year, damage to village property and possession of cannabis, police reported.

Whetter told police he thought they stopped him at North and Harlem avenues in Oak Park, which is seven miles north of where he was actually stopped in Riverside.

Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel said this is the third DUI crash or arrest in this area in the past six months. The car in the first arrest rolled over and hit a retaining wall at Kimbark and Park Place, and the driver in the second arrest was taken into custody in front of Riverside District 96 Grade School.

"As a society, we need a different approach to drunk and drugged driving - acceptance or apathy is not the approach I am speaking of,” Weitzel said in a statement.

Photos courtesy of Riverside police.