Prosecutors say officers “prevented another terrible tragedy” after they arrested a man for driving while intoxicated for his seventh time after he struck a curb and a sign on Route 120 in McHenry.
James R. Conaway, 59, of McHenry, was charged with two counts of aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol, a Class X felony, and one count of driving while license revoked, a Class 4 felony.
Prosecutors said Conaway was driving a vehicle on Route 120, also known as West Elm Street, in McHenry around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday.
He allegedly struck a curb and a street sign before driving through the grass off the roadway.
Court documents indicated the incident occurred at West Elm Street and Ringwood Road.
Police officers from the McHenry Police Department approached Conaway’s vehicle and found him asleep and slumped over in the driver’s seat, prosecutors said.
Conaway admitted to consuming five or six alcoholic beverages.
He refused field sobriety tests because he admitted to being intoxicated, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Conaway submitted to a breath test that showed that his blood alcohol concentration was 0.263, which is over three times the legal limit.
Conaway has six prior violations of driving under the influence of alcohol on his record.
He recently completed the DeKalb County DUI court program for driving under the influence of alcohol in 2023.
The McHenry Police Department transported Conaway to the McHenry County Jail and the state’s attorney’s office filed a petition to detain him pending trial, calling him a danger to the community.
McHenry County Judge Christopher Harmon granted the petition during an Initial Appearance Court hearing on Wednesday afternoon.
McHenry County State’s Attorney Randi Freese said she commends responding officers for their “swift response and apprehension of Conaway.”
“As our community has recently experienced, DUI offenders can cause fatal or irreparable harm to our residents. The actions of these officers likely prevented another terrible tragedy,” Freese said.
Conaway is scheduled to appear in court again on November 19.