Crime & Safety

South Suburban DUI Arrests, June 10

Driver fakes Breathalyzer blow, another drives wrong way on a one-way; your roundup of drunken driving arrests in the Southland.


May 28: Frank Mares, 57, of the 10100 block of Alice Court in Oak Lawn, was charged with driving under the influence. He was driving a motorcycle down Ridgeland Avenue when he was stopped for speeding at 1:46 a.m., police said. 

May 26: 
Colette Barajas, 20, of the 7700 block of Oak Ridge Court, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and possession of drug equipment. She was stopped at 2:20 a.m. and failed field sobriety tests, police said.  

June 2: 
Dennis Stampanato, 55, of the 15200 block of South Rob Roy Drive in Oak Forest, was charged with driving under the influence and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident. At 6:46 p.m. Stampanato's car hit another vehicle that was slowing down for a red traffic light on Route 83 and Ridgeland Avenue, police said. During the crash investigation police said officers noticed that he showed signs of impairment and conducted field sobriety tests, which he failed. 

June 2: 
Anil Thapa, 21, of the 3100 block of South Oak in Brookfield, was charged with drunken driving. He was stopped at 4:47 a.m. for speeding, police said. Police say he failed field sobriety tests and a breath test revealed a blood alcohol level of .208, more than two and a half times the legal limit.

June 2: 
Rachel Terborg, 27, of the 14400 block of Kenton in Crestwood, was charged with drunken driving. She was stopped at 1:48 a.m. for crossing lane lines, police said. Terborg failed field sobriety tests and a breath test resulted in a blood alcohol level of .205, police said. 

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May 26: Erika Salgado, 34, of the 2300 block of South Albany in Chicago, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol after police saw her traveling the wrong way on a oneway portion of West 23rd Street, according to the report. Police conducted field sobriety tests on Salgado before taking her into custody. Salgado was also brought up on charges for improper lane usage, no proof of insurance, failure to wear a seatbelt, illegal transportation of alcohol and blood-alcohol content above .08, according to police.

May 28:  Robert E. Johnson, 43, 11900 Stephanie Lane, Mokena, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol after police stopped the vehicle he was driving in the 8800 block of 191st Street for twice changing lanes without signaling. Police said Johnson drove on the white lane markers for about a block and didn’t stop for about five blocks after they activated their emergency lights at 12:15 a.m. He reportedly told police he drank about four beers, but his eyes were glassy and bloodshot, he smelled of alcohol and he failed field sobriety tests, police said. Johnson was also charged with improper lane usage and failure to signal when required. He has a court date of July 3 at the Will County Courthouse in Joliet.

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May 19:  Jill N. Burke, 33, of the 1000 block of South Cooper in New Lenox, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, driving under the influence with a blood-alcohol level greater than .08, improper turning and failure to signal while turning. Police pulled Burke over after she reportedly didn’t signal while turning south on Wolf Road from 167th Street, and crossing over the center line while turning, around 12:05 a.m. The driver’s breath smelled like alcohol, she failed field sobriety tests and admitted to drinking, police said.

May 18: Police said they pulled over a driver around 10:25 p.m. in the 18600 block of 80th Avenue in after they reportedly saw him swerving across lane lines and into oncoming traffic. When they approached Hernando E. Herrera, 54, of the 7700 block of West 165th Street in Tinley Park, they said his eyes were bloodshot and he smelled like alcohol. He reportedly admitted to drinking two to three beers while at a bonfire, the report said. He then failed field sobriety tests, according to police. He was charged with operating an uninsured motor vehicle, improper lane use, driving under the influence and driving under the influence with a blood-alcohol content greater than 0.08.

May 16: A Blue Island man charged with driving under the influence of alcohol only pretended to blow into the Breathalyzer after he was spotted swerving and driving with no headlights on May 16, reports said. Christopher M. Mashak, 28, of the 2800 block of Union C in Blue Island, was charged with DUI, using a vehicle in connection with illegal activities and other traffic offenses.  spotted a Chrysler leaving the Hilton Oak Lawn with no headlights around 2:12 a.m. The Chrysler, driven by Mashak, nearly hit another car when changing lanes and swerving into the other lane, reports said. The officer stopped the car at 95th Street and Keeler Avenue. Police said that Mashak stopped several feet from the curb and shifted until reverse several times before parking his car. Mashak told police he was coming from seeing the movie “The Avengers.” He allegedly admitted to having his last alcoholic beverage “before the movie six hours ago.” Appearing "glassy eyed with a strong odor of alcohol," Mashak was asked to step out of his car. The officer made Mashak remove a penny from his mouth after he agreed to take a preliminary Breathalyzer test, according to reports. Mashak "pretended to blow into the Breathalyzer several times and twice blew too lightly to be successful” to complete the preliminary test, police said. According to the officer, Mashak said, “I’m not sure I can do that without my lawyer present.” He was taken to the Oak Lawn police station where he lied to police about going to the movie with a non-existent Oak Lawn cop, police said. Mashak pretended to blow lightly into the Breathalyzer for “two seconds and stopped,” reports said. He also allegedly told police he did not understand Miranda warning. He’s due in court on July 9 at the Bridgeview Courthouse.


Police report information is provided by local police departments. Charges are not evidence of guilt. They are a record of police actions on a given day, and persons charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. If you or a family member are charged or cited and the case is subsequently adjudicated, we encourage you to notify the editor. We will verify and report the outcome.


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