Accused Drunken Driver Nearly Crashes into Police

A Heights resident is facing a felony charges after endangering a police officer on Lincoln Highway last Thursday, according to the police report.

Abraham Ortiz, 33, of the 200 block of W. 14th Street, was arrested and charged with aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol after he disregarded a traffic light and almost hit a police cruiser near the intersection of 14th Street and East End Avenue, according to the report. 

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Police stopped Ortiz and noticed he had bloodshot eyes and smelled of alcohol, according to the report. Asked if he had been drinking, Ortiz told police he had three beers about an hour before driving, but later changed the number to four. Ortiz was also unable to provide a valid driver's license, police said.

Ortiz took a Breathalyzer test and registered a blood-alcohol content level of .181, according to the report. He racked up additional charges of disobeying a traffic control device, driving on a suspended license and having a blood-alcohol content above .08.

Ortiz appeared in Markham Courthouse on Jan. 13, when his bail was set at $50,000. He his scheduled to appear in court again Feb. 1.

Read last week's police stories on Chicago Heights Patch:

• Man Beaten and Robbed While Driving on East End
• Man's Home Burglarized Twice in Two Months: Police Blotter
• Police and Feds Make Historic Drug Bust in Chicago Heights

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Police report information is provided by the Chicago Heights Police Department and other law enforcement agencies. Charges are not evidence of guilt. They are a record of police actions on a given day, and persons charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. If you or a family member are charged or cited and the case is subsequently adjudicated, we encourage you to notify the editor. We will verify and report the outcome.