A judge called it “astonishing” after an Ingleside man was arrested in Waukegan for driving drunk for the ninth time just months after he was released from a nine-year prison sentence for DUI.
Jose A. Torres-Campos, 36, of Ingleside, was charged with aggravated driving under the influence as a sixth or subsequent violation, aggravated driving under the influence with a suspended or revoked license, driving on a revoked license, improper lane usage and illegal transportation of alcohol by a driver.
The Waukegan Police Department was dispatched around 1:21 a.m. on September 14 to the area of Judge Avenue and Lydia Street in Waukegan for a report of a slumped driver.
Officers arrived and saw a gray SUV not moving in the roadway at the stop sign at Judge Avenue and Lydia Street.
It was positioned so approaching vehicles would have had to enter the oncoming traffic lane to get around it, Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Garrett Miller said.
The SUV began to move from the center of the roadway, which has no center lane divider, then swerved to the left and turned until it was facing west, perpendicular to the north-south road.
It then reversed and parked in a designated handicap parking area without displaying a handicap parking permit, Miller said.
An officer conducted a stop and approached the driver and sole occupant, identified as Torres-Campos, and saw two open Modelo beers in the center cupholders between the driver and passenger seats.
Torres-Campos gave officers an Illinois identification card with the help of a Spanish-speaking officer when he was asked for his driver’s license and officers confirmed his license was revoked, Miller said.
Torres-Campos allegedly told officers through the Spanish-speaking officer that he had a few beers earlier in the day and one before driving.
The officer at the window saw that Torres-Campos had bloodshot and watery eyes, with mumbled speech and noticed a heavy odor of alcohol coming from the SUV.
Torres-Campos complied when he was asked to get out and slowly exited the SUV before he was taken to the sidewalk for field sobriety tests, Miller said.
Torres-Campos answered “3” when the officer asked him to rate his level of intoxication on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being stone cold sober and 10 being the most drunk he had ever been, Miller said.
Miller said the odor of alcohol followed Torres-Campos from the SUV and was coming from his face as the officer spoke with him on the sidewalk.
Torres-Campos refused to take the field sobriety tests and told the officer he was tired when asked why, Miller said.
He was arrested for DUI and refused to provide a breath sample. Officers found the two beers were still cold and both were about half full.
Torres-Campos’ license was also subject to a statutory summary suspension at the time of the stop.
He was transported to the Lake County Jail for a First Appearance Court hearing and the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain Torres-Campos pending trial, arguing his release would pose a threat to the safety of the community.
Lake County Judge Michael Nerheim granted the petition following a detention hearing and Torres-Campos was ordered detained pending trial.
Torres-Campos has eight prior arrests for driving under the influence, court records show. His most recent DUI conviction was in 2022, for which he was sentenced in 2023 to nine years in the Illinois Department of Corrections, Miller said.
He was paroled in March and remains on parole for that aggravated DUI, a Class X felony, Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Colleen McConnell said during the detention hearing.
McConnell said Illinois Department of Corrections records show the 2022 case involved a blood alcohol content of 0.16 or higher, at least twice the legal limit, as did a 2016 case in which he was convicted of a fifth aggravated DUI.
Torres-Campos was sentenced to eight years in prison for the 2016 aggravated DUI, a Class 1 felony, and to six years in a 2013 case for a fourth aggravated DUI, a Class 2 felony, according to Illinois Department of Corrections records.
Torres-Campos caused a crash in the 2022 case that sent him and two other people to the hospital, McConnell said.
He claimed to have had one tequila and one beer but his blood alcohol content from medical treatment came back at 0.206, McConnell said.
He was also previously convicted of felony failure to return from furlough in a 2011 case, has had numerous petitions to revoke filed in prior cases and has a history of picking up new offenses while on bond or parole, McConnell said.
“As such, there is no condition or set of conditions that can reasonably be expected to dissuade the defendant from engaging in further behavior that puts the public in extreme danger. If the defendant is released, he will drink and drive again,” Miller said.
McConnell said at the hearing that Torres-Campos is “clearly a highly functioning alcoholic” who keeps choosing to drink and drive despite the serious consequences he faces, including the significant parole period he has left.
McConnell said Torres-Campos rating himself a 3 out of 10 was “incredibly concerning” because he has shown such a high tolerance to alcohol.
Lake County Assistant Public Defender Gregg Wolpoff said Torres-Campos works three jobs, working about 13 hours a day during the week and about eight hours on Saturdays and Sundays.
Wolpoff said Torres-Campos had fallen asleep because he was tired from his work hours.
Torres-Campos claimed there was no Spanish-speaking police officer at the scene and some of what was said may have been lost in translation, Wolpoff said.
Wolpoff said the beers belonged to another occupant of the SUV whom Torres-Campos had dropped off.
Torres-Campos acknowledged drinking earlier in the day but said it was around 1 p.m., about 12 to 13 hours before he was stopped, Wolpoff said, arguing for his client’s release.
Nerheim said prosecutors met their burden, pointing to the report that Torres-Campos was slumped behind the wheel in a position that would force other drivers into oncoming traffic to get around him, the driving described in the petition and signs of intoxication, including the open Modelo beers officers found still cold and half full.
Nerheim said Torres-Campos has eight prior DUI charges dating back to 2009 and is on parole after being sentenced to nine years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for DUI.
“Quite frankly, it astonishes me that somebody who’s been in an accident where people have been transported to the hospital based on DUI, has been charged with DUI so many times and has gone to prison for DUI, would still drink and get behind the wheel of a vehicle,” Nerheim said.
The judge said no conditions could be imposed that Torres-Campos would likely follow that would mitigate the threat he poses both to himself and to other drivers on the road.
Torres-Campos is scheduled to appear in court again on October 5 for a preliminary hearing.