An Illinois woman who was arrested Friday for driving under the influence told police she had been drinking to celebrate the fact that she was getting her driver’s license back after a previous DUI arrest, police said.
A Riverside, Ill. Police officer observed the driver, Erin James, speeding around 2:10 a.m., a press release from Riverside Police said. After stopping James, the officer noticed she might have been under the influence of alcohol.
The 58-year-old driver failed multiple sobriety tests and was placed into custody, the release said.
At the Riverside Police Department, James provided a breath sample, which showed an alcohol content of .155, nearly double the legal limit of .08, police said.
While being processed on the DUI charge, James told the officer the reason she was drinking was to celebrate the fact that was would be getting her license back from a DUI arrest in 2012, according to police.
“Ms. James purposely drove a car that she did not own to avoid the ignition lock device and was driving back from a Forest Park bar where she was celebrating that fact that she would finally have her driving privileges back after her 2012 conviction for DUI,” Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel said in a statement. “Ms. James is exactly the type of motorist I want kept off the road permanently under a new proposed habitual DUI law that I will be proposing in the very near future.”
Weitzel will propose James loses her driving privileges for 10 years, that her vehicle be confiscated and a that she serves a mandatory seven-year sentence upon conviction of repeat offenders, the release said.
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James was expected to appear in court for a bond hearing Saturday morning.
