Driver Thinks He is in Arlington Heights, Maybe

St. Charles police say a West Chicago man who they later charged with a DUI was so confused, he did not what town he was in.

Officers responded to calls of a red automobile erratically driving on Main Street sometime after 11 p.m. June 16. As officers were responding to the calls, another call came through about a three-car crash, which included a vehicle similar to the one described in the earlier calls.

Officers arrived at the crash site and saw that a red vehicle rear-ended the back end of a car, which caused that car to slam into another one. The driver of the red vehicle, later identified as Christopher Stefanczyk of West Chicago, was slumped over his steering wheel and unresponsive to raps on the window, police said.

Officers had to break out a window in order to unlock the driver’s door, according to reports. When officers pulled the driver from the car they detected an odor of alcohol on his breath and reported slurred responses to questions, the report said.

The other drivers were not injured, according to police.

Stefanczyk told police he was coming from Rolling Meadows after “playing a gig.” Officers asked Stefanczyk if he knew where he was and he responded that he was in Arlington Heights. He was asked the same question again and gave the same response, followed by a comment of not knowing why officers were making a big deal about what town he was in.

Police sid Stefanczyk kept falling asleep while they questioned him at the scene. He was taken to the police station because he could not physically stand for field sobriety tests. At the police station he asked officers if he was in St. Charles and after being told yes, Stefanczyk wanted to know why they brought him there all the way from Bloomingdale, according to the report.

Stefanczyk was charged with DUI, failure to reduce speed to avoid accident and improper lane usage.

Patch reports on law enforcement activity in our town, using information provided by . Persons charged with a crime, or issued a citation for violation of a local ordinance, are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. If you or a family member is charged with a crime or cited for a violation, and the charge or citation are subsequently adjudicated, we encourage you to notify Alex Keown at St. Charles Patch and we will do follow-up reporting on the case. For questions, email keown.alex@gmail.com.