Man With 15 Drunk Driving Convictions Charged With Driving On Revoked License

CHICAGO (CBS) — A man with 15 previous convictions for drunk driving was back in court on Wednesday, charged with violating the terms of his bond in yet another DUI case.

Christopher Clingingsmith, 52, was arrested last month for driving on a revoked license, and providing police with a fake ID after a hit-and-run crash in Arlington Heights. At the time, he was free on $400,000 bond on a pending DUI charge.

His attorney said Clingingsmith drove to Arlington Heights to assist his wife after she was involved in a car crash. Prosecutors said he gave police a driver’s license that turned out to be fake.

The state revoked his driver’s license in 2017, and a judge had forbidden him to drive as a condition of setting bail in his pending drunk driving case. In that case, Clingingsmith allegedly fled the scene after crashing into a party bus in Des Plaines.

If convicted in that case, he could be locked up for up to 30 years.

Rita Kreslin, executive director of the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists, said cases like Clingingsmith’s are about more than just taking away their legal right to drive, it’s about getting them treatment for alcohol abuse.

“Reality is people assume when someone has that many DUI’s, they’re driving legally, they’re not. When people have that many DUI’s, they have a problem with alcohol. Unless you get them off the road, the chances of them injuring or killing someone become far greater,” she said. “If you don’t treat the problem, you won’t stop drinking and driving. In this case, alcohol is the problem. When you don’t remove someone from the road that is DUI, it adds insult to injury to all the victims of DUI.”

Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White said it’s “an outrage” that Clingingsmith has continued to drive illegally after so many drunk driving covictions.

“This story is an unfortunate example that there are some people who will totally disregard the law. This is why I continue working to make Illinois roads as safe as possible,” he said.

from CBS Chicago https://ift.tt/2FgBi7b