Former Chicago Alderman Proco “Joe” Moreno, who was charged with driving under the influence after he allegedly crashed into eight cars and a tree in the Gold Coast late last month, was ordered by a Cook County judge to turn himself in to authorities for violating the terms of bail bond in another pending case Thursday morning.
Moreno was sipping from a red plastic cup during the court hearing, which was conducted via ZOOM due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I hope he’s drinking water out of that red cup,” Cook County Judge William Hooks said as he ordered Moreno to surrender to jail authorities by mid-afternoon, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Moreno was on bail for an on-going insurance fraud and false report case when he allegedly drove into a series of cars along Astor Street in the Gold Coast and crashed into a tree at Division Street as a covert Chicago police unit watched on December 27.
Allegedly sporting a blood alcohol level four times the legal limit, Moreno was treated for minor injuries at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and then released after being charged with misdemeanors.
But Hooks, who oversees Moreno’s insurance fraud case, revoked the former alderman’s bail bond during a routine hearing Thursday.
Prosecutors asked Hooks to add conditions to Moreno’s DUI bond, but the judge went even further by revoking bail altogether in the earlier case and calling him “a danger to the community,” according to the Tribune.
Shortly before 3 p.m., Moreno turned himself in for admission to Cook County jail. He’ll be laying his head at county until he goes back in front of Hooks next Friday to see if the judge will set new conditions for release.
Red plastic cups will not be available at the hearing.