Posted on 05/26/2007 6:21:14 AM PDT by Krankor
A DuPage County prosecutor killed in a drunken driving crash was traveling more than 80 mph and possibly using her cell phone seconds before her government-issued car struck another vehicle head-on, authorities said Friday.
A 33-page police report also indicated that Jane Radostits had been drinking before the May 11 crash during a long lunch at an Oak Brook restaurant with seven other prosecutors and another office staffer.
Lab results released last week showed that Radostits, 46, had a blood-alcohol level of .25 percent -- three times the level at which a motorist is considered drunk.
"She was drunk, and she was speeding. Those are horrible circumstances," DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett said Friday after reviewing the crash report prepared by the DuPage County Sheriff's Department.
The 3:45 p.m. crash seriously injured Michele Lubinski, 36, of West Chicago, whose sport-utility vehicle was hit by Radostits' county-issued Chevy Impala. Two other vehicles were damaged in the crash near Winfield.
"My heart is broken over what's taken place," Birkett said.
He confirmed Friday that veteran prosecutor Jeffrey Kendall, who had been drinking with Radostits and later gave her a ride in his county car back to the Wheaton courthouse so she could pick up her work vehicle, has resigned in the wake of the revelations. But Birkett would not say whether he asked Kendall to leave.
Birkett would not comment on whether any of the other prosecutors who had been at the lunch at the Kona Grill in Oak Brook have been disciplined, though sources say none has been punished.
Radostits and Kendall were the first to arrive at the restaurant, coming from the DuPage County courthouse after a bomb threat forced the closure of the building. While other prosecutors arrived later and stayed for a lesser amount of time, Radostits and Kendall spent at least three hours there, investigators said.
Other prosecutors who were with Radostits, a respected deputy bureau chief in the office, estimated she had three to five drinks, but they told police they saw "no outward signs of impairment or intoxication."
Radostits and Kendall, who could not be reached for comment, had received permission to take the rest of the day off, officials said.
Data obtained from Radostits' Impala indicated that in the seconds before the crash, she was driving between 81 and 85 mph -- far exceeding the posted 45 mph limit, investigators said. There was no indication that Radostits tried to brake before the crash on Winfield Road, nor did she appear to be wearing a seat belt, investigators said.
"The excessive speed combined with the blood alcohol level may have given the driver of the Impala a false sense of how fast she was traveling," Detective Kevin Farley wrote in the crash report.
Phone records also indicate she apparently was making a cell phone call about the time the crash occurred, investigators said in the report.
Sheriff John Zaruba declined to comment on the crash report, except to say it had been released without prior review by Birkett's office.
Lubinski, who broke her left arm and left leg in the crash, remains "completely bedridden," her attorney said Friday.
Attorney Dennis Stefanowicz questioned why at least some prosecutors were drinking after the bomb threat closed down the courthouse.
"This wasn't a routine bomb threat," he said. "It seemed to be more of a party on behalf of the DuPage County state's attorney's office."
The vehicles involved in my son’s accident were both totaled and their batteries were crushed. Our hired investigator had no trouble collecting reams of data from either vehicle. The only difficult part was prying the twisted sheetmetal away to get at the connector.
The captured data ended all arguments regarding fault. The insurance companies were forced to settle or face the possibility of punitive damages being awarded by a sympathetic jury.
State accident investigators and private consulting firms have software that extrapolates the data into a comprehensive accident report with a click of the mouse.
I see they have made many changes. Do you mind answering what year, make and model your sons vehicle was? Do you know if these changes were legislated ?
It is my understanding these black boxes were legislated into existence, though I do not know when or by whom.
The throttle position sensor of the elderly driver's Aurora indicated wide open trottle at the moment of impact, though his contention was he was hard on the brakes at the time . . .
FermiLab is in Kane county.
If 4 beers=.08 BAC
And .08 goes into .25 three x
Wouldn't 4 beers x 3= .08 x 3 or 4 beers x 3 = 12 beers
> Are you a regular Chicago Trib subscriber where you live in socialist New Zealand?
I read the Tribune daily in Occupied New Zealand, and correspond regularly with several of their staff. Chicago is my favorite large American city.
*DieHard*
And .08 goes into .25 three times
Wouldn't 4 beers x 3= .08 x 3 or 4 beers x 3 = 12 beers?
No.
Your body absorbs .02 to .03 an hour. According to police charts; 160lb man, 8 beers in 4 hours is a .11. Unless you are a career alcoholic, .18 is pretty much falling down, smashed, passed out. It would be the most obvious thing in the world. .25 is a comastose stupor, inconcievable to achieve and still have any normal function abilities, except to people who drink a liter of scotch a day.
I always wondered how the prosecutors could be so ruthless, knowing they are pushing blatant lies, and not giving a moments thought to the fact they are trying to destroy someone's life, all for a day's pay. Perhaps Freud would look deeper in this case; she's trying to relieve herself of some of the guilt she feels for being a hardcore alcoholic who drives twice the legal BAC limit on a daily basis; she's trying to save us all from someone becoming what she is. Or, maybe she just prosecutes bombed.
As far as safe drivers, I'll take the 3 beer guy behind the wheel on the way home from work any day over women in SUV's on cell phones. I hit the breaks and drive two lanes away from them when they are sober. I've been run off the road by them too many times.
How do you know she is a hardcore alcoholic? Please provide this for me because nowhere have I seen this mentioned.
She is dead, but had she survived, there could not have been any possible excuse proffered for her “choice” to drive drunk, speed, and talk on a cellphone while doing so. But I have no real doubt that had she lived, she would have pled “not guilty” and tried to beat the criminal charges in the legal system that passes for justice in the USA.
Prayers for her family and her victims.
And yes, I remember the days before MADD and harsh mandatory minimum legal DUI sentences became widespread.
But for the grace of God, I could have killed or injured myself or another driver, in the good (bad) old days, when it was still considered socially acceptable to drive drunk.
I drink alcohol, but refuse to drive anywhere after consuming three drinks.
Period.
One would expect lawyers and legislators to be even more averse to participating in patently illegal actions./sarcasm//
Link to full statement in post #109
You and I must've gone to different colleges.
“Data obtained from Radostits’ Impala indicated that in the seconds before the crash, she was driving between 81 and 85 mph”
Data obtained from the Impala? Is there something going on that I’m not aware of?
I thought Flight Data Recorders were only used in airplanes.
Nope, most late model mid to high end vehicles have a virtual ‘black box’. The Onstar system in my H2 records around thirty to forty five seconds of data, showing speed, braking or lack there of, etc etc etc.
Most people don’t realize it.
Yep.
Other prosecutors who were with Radostits, a respected deputy bureau chief in the office, estimated she had three to five drinks, but they told police they saw “no outward signs of impairment or intoxication.”
What a load of BS! What were those 3-5 “drinks”? Doubles? Triples? 48 oz Margaritas?
Same thought here.
‘Terribly written piece. Did she die in the crash or not?
First line of the article: A DuPage County prosecutor killed in a drunken driving crash ‘
(chuckle)
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