Post by KC on Nov 28, 2006 0:05:27 GMT -5
CROWN POINT, Ind. - Prosecutors on Monday filed felony drunken driving charges against a Chicago police officer over a January crash in which one man died and another was seriously hurt.
Lake County prosecutors charged Officer Christopher E. Berlanga with causing death while intoxicated and causing serious bodily injury while intoxicated.
Berlanga, 25, could face between two years and eight years in prison if convicted on the most serious count. Berlanga was placed on administrative leave after the crash, but a message seeking comment on his current status with the Chicago Police Department was not immediately returned Monday.
The charges stem from a crash on U.S. 41 in the Lake County town of Highland shortly before midnight on Jan. 16 that killed one of the other car's passengers and injured the other diver seriously enough that he was placed in a medically induced coma for some time.
Police said a blood test following the crash showed Berlanga's blood-alcohol level was 0.19 percent - more than twice Indiana's legal limit of 0.08 percent.
The driver of the other car, Kristina D. Hiltunen, 23, of Gary, also was charged after police said she tested positive for marijuana. Police said Hiltunen turned made an improper left turn in front of Berlanga's southbound BMW, which was traveling at least 60 mph in a 35 mph zone.
Both were booked into Lake County Jail under $30,000 bond pending Friday court appearances, prosecutors said. Telephone calls to the jail seeking information on their status rang unanswered.
www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/local/16110154.htm
Lake County prosecutors charged Officer Christopher E. Berlanga with causing death while intoxicated and causing serious bodily injury while intoxicated.
Berlanga, 25, could face between two years and eight years in prison if convicted on the most serious count. Berlanga was placed on administrative leave after the crash, but a message seeking comment on his current status with the Chicago Police Department was not immediately returned Monday.
The charges stem from a crash on U.S. 41 in the Lake County town of Highland shortly before midnight on Jan. 16 that killed one of the other car's passengers and injured the other diver seriously enough that he was placed in a medically induced coma for some time.
Police said a blood test following the crash showed Berlanga's blood-alcohol level was 0.19 percent - more than twice Indiana's legal limit of 0.08 percent.
The driver of the other car, Kristina D. Hiltunen, 23, of Gary, also was charged after police said she tested positive for marijuana. Police said Hiltunen turned made an improper left turn in front of Berlanga's southbound BMW, which was traveling at least 60 mph in a 35 mph zone.
Both were booked into Lake County Jail under $30,000 bond pending Friday court appearances, prosecutors said. Telephone calls to the jail seeking information on their status rang unanswered.
www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/local/16110154.htm