CHICAGO — A drunk driver who slammed into a Chicago police officer last week and crashed into a pole while the cop was clinging to the hood of his speeding car had a blood alcohol concentration more than three times the legal limit, prosecutors say.
Jose Ruiz Crespin, 22, was so intoxicated that CPD officers were unable to conduct field sobriety tests or breath tests because he passed out at the hospital, according to his arrest report.
He is now being detained in the Cook County jail by order of Judge Mary Marubio.
It all started shortly before midnight on March 8 when CPD officers responded to a routine call about a party with possibly underage drinkers in the 100 block of North Lamon. The cops cleared out the party and stayed in the area to make sure all of the partygoers left peacefully, Crespin’s arrest report said.
As the crowd was breaking up, Crespin got behind the wheel of his parked BMW 325i and immediately reversed into the car parked behind him, prosecutor Mike Pekara said in a written proffer. Crespin then pulled forward and plowed into another car parked on the opposite side of the street, causing his vehicle to become entangled with the other, Pekara said.
Crespin reversed his car as cops ordered him to put the vehicle into park and another officer moved a marked squad car to block the street in front of Crespin’s vehicle, Pekara said.
That officer, 26, got out of the squad car and walked toward Crespin’s BMW as Crespin’s back seat passenger bailed out. Once Crespin’s vehicle separated from the other car, he allegedly sped forward toward the fully uniformed officer who was walking toward him.
The impact caused the officer to fly onto the hood of Crespin’s car, which continued to speed down the street until it collided with a light pole, according to Pekara. He said the crash was so forceful that both tires on the passenger side of the car were lifted off the ground.
The officer was thrown from the hood with such force, his firearm, which had been secured to his side, was dislodged from its holster. His body camera flew off of his vest and landed about 20 feet away.
Other officers scooped the injured cop up and took him to Stroger Hospital. He suffered a broken ankle.
Crespin declined medical attention, but the cops took him to a hospital, just to be safe. According to the officers’ report, Crespin “fell asleep and could not be awakened” at the hospital. A blood draw revealed his blood alcohol level was .2466, the report said. Illinois’ legal limit is a fraction of that: .08.
Pekara, the prosecutor, told Judge Marubio that Crespin’s background includes a collision involving personal injury in 2024 and a conviction for speeding 15 to 25 mph above the limit, also last year.
He is charged with attempted second-degree murder, aggravated DUI, and multiple misdemeanors.
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