Prosecutors said a twice-convicted DUI driver had a blood alcohol content nearly four times the legal limit when he collided with a bicyclist and a light pole outside Chicago Police Area Three headquarters on Saturday afternoon.
Miguel Cortes, 33, is charged with aggravated DUI involving an accident with great bodily harm. Judge Barbara Dawkins set his bail at $80,000.
Dawkins noted that Cortes’ alcohol level was “well, well, well over the legal limit.”
Cortes was driving his 2001 Audi A4 westbound on Belmont when he stopped for a red light around 1:22 p.m., officials said. Another driver told police they honked their horn when Cortes did not start driving after the light turned green.
Cortes then hit the accelerator and struck the bicyclist and light pole on the northwest corner of Belmont and Western, directly in front of a sprawling Chicago police facility, prosecutors said.
A witness ran into the police station to get help, and officers found the 64-year-old female bicyclist lying face down on the ground.
Officers discovered Cortes slumped over the wheel of his car with an open bottle of alcohol on the passenger floorboard, prosecutors said. Cops said Cortes smelled of alcohol and had glassy, bloodshot eyes. His blood alcohol content was.304, according to prosecutors.
The bicyclist, who suffered a broken collarbone and a fractured knee, will have to undergo surgery, prosecutors said. CPD surveillance cameras recorded the collision.
Cortes’ driver’s license was revoked and suspended at the time of the crash for two previous felony DUI convictions, prosecutors said. His more recent conviction, in 2020, resulted in a two-year prison term.
He must post 10% of his $80,000 bail to get out of jail.