Sad: Chicago, off-duty cop slams into what looks like a GX, kills them
04-13-09, 11:42 AM
#1
Guest
Posts: n/a
Sad: Chicago, off-duty cop slams into what looks like a GX, kills them
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2...yan-crash.html
very sad read. Drunk 3 times the legal limit, left the scene. Tow truck driver saw it, followed him and he was caught.
RIP, hope it wasn't anyone here
very sad read. Drunk 3 times the legal limit, left the scene. Tow truck driver saw it, followed him and he was caught.
RIP, hope it wasn't anyone here
04-13-09, 11:43 AM
#2
Guest
Posts: n/a
Update
Drunken driving, cop case: Chicago cop gets bail in fatal crash, angering 2 victims' friends and family
Chicago Detective Joseph Frugoli is out on $500,000 bail after prosecutors said he had a blood-alcohol content three times the legal limit during the crash
By Megan Twohey and Emily S. Achenbaum | Tribune reporters
April 13, 2009
A raucous confrontation broke out Sunday outside Cook County Criminal Court after a Chicago police detective charged with causing a deadly auto crash while driving drunk was ordered released on $500,000 bail.
The fight highlighted the outrage underlying the case.
As they streamed out of the noontime hearing, many of the 75 friends and relatives of the two young victims were shouting and crying, angered that Joseph Frugoli, an 18-year veteran of the Chicago force, could be set free while the case makes its way through court.
When more than a dozen courthouse police chased down one especially loud and angry man outside, threw him to the ground and hauled him into the courthouse, the crowd got angrier. People yelled "pigs," "cowards" and other hostile words about Frugoli, specifically, and the police in general.
"If I hit your kids, it would be a different story! " one man shouted as Cook County sheriff's officers created a human barrier on the front steps of the courthouse.
"Only $500,000—that's what two lives are worth?!" yelled another member of the crowd, referring to Andrew Cazares, 23, and Fausto Manzera, 21, the two men killed Friday in the fiery crash.
"Put that guy in jail, that's where he belongs!" a young woman yelled.
The non-violent standoff came after the prosecutor and defense attorney laid out new claims about the crash and Frugoli—some of them conflicting.
Frugoli, a burly man who appeared in court in jeans and a long-sleeve polo shirt, has been charged with two counts each of reckless homicide and aggravated DUI, plus one count of leaving the scene of a fatal crash. Authorities said his blood-alcohol content was more than three times the legal limit. He was released from custody Sunday after posting $50,000, 10 percent of the bail, said Steve Patterson, a sheriff's spokesman.
Police said the crash occurred around 3:30 a.m. Friday in Chicago on the southbound Dan Ryan Expressway north of 18th Street, after Cazares pulled his 1995 red Dodge Intrepid over to wait for help, possibly with a flat tire.
John Dillon, an assistant state's attorney who sought an "extremely high bond," said that Frugoli's blood-alcohol level was 0.277 when his 2008 Lexus SUV crashed into the Dodge, and that he was driving 60 to 65 m.p.h., which was above the speed limit.
According to witnesses, Dillon said, the impact propelled the Dodge forward as if it "had been shot from a cannon" and caused it to explode like "a bomb went off."
When officials from the Illinois Department of Transportation arrived, Frugoli tried to flee on foot until he was stopped by an official from the department, Dillon said.
Frugoli's defense attorney, Gregg Smith, said the Dodge was stopped in the right-hand lane with its lights off, not pulled off to the shoulder, as the prosecution said. Smith said there was no proof that Frugoli was speeding and that he was not trying to flee when he started to walk away from the scene.
"My client was disoriented," said Smith, who sought a $200,000 bail, which he said was "reasonable."
Frugoli, he insisted, "wasn't trying to evade arrest."
Smith portrayed Frugoli as a committed police officer born and raised in Chicago whose strong family ties prevented him from being a flight risk.
Frugoli's ex-wife and 16-year-old daughter live in the city, Smith said.
Frugoli lives in a three-flat with his brother and his brother's three children. His father, who died in 2007, and his mother, who recently died, used to live in the three-flat as well.
He said Frugoli's father served in the Chicago Police Department, and that Frugoli has received honor and distinction for his service on the force.
Dillon pointed out that Frugoli, who has been relieved of his police powers, had a history of driving dangerously, pointing to a 2005 crash and a 1990 speeding ticket.
Last week, a Cook County judge ordered Frugoli to pay more than $7,000 in damages in a civil case involving the 2005 crash, in which Frugoli struck a 61-year-old man's vehicle from behind on the Dan Ryan, pushing it into a median wall. Frugoli, who denied consuming alcohol before that crash, was cited with failure to reduce speed, but the ticket was dropped.
In 1990, Frugoli was cited with driving 80 m.p.h. in a 50-m.p.h. zone and with disregarding a stop sign in 2008, but those tickets also were thrown out, court documents show.
Smith said Frugoli did not have a criminal history and that receiving traffic tickets was not unusual. "We've all had traffic incidents," Smith said.
But many of the friends and relatives of Cazares and Manzera, already devastated by the loss of their loved ones, saw the $500,000 bail as a sign that Frugoli was receiving special treatment because he is a police officer.
"We're upset by the decision," said Mike Angelo, a friend of the victims.
Ed Page, a friend of Cazares, offered his blunt assessment of Frugoli: "He's a murderer."
Drunken driving, cop case: Chicago cop gets bail in fatal crash, angering 2 victims' friends and family
Chicago Detective Joseph Frugoli is out on $500,000 bail after prosecutors said he had a blood-alcohol content three times the legal limit during the crash
By Megan Twohey and Emily S. Achenbaum | Tribune reporters
April 13, 2009
A raucous confrontation broke out Sunday outside Cook County Criminal Court after a Chicago police detective charged with causing a deadly auto crash while driving drunk was ordered released on $500,000 bail.
The fight highlighted the outrage underlying the case.
As they streamed out of the noontime hearing, many of the 75 friends and relatives of the two young victims were shouting and crying, angered that Joseph Frugoli, an 18-year veteran of the Chicago force, could be set free while the case makes its way through court.
When more than a dozen courthouse police chased down one especially loud and angry man outside, threw him to the ground and hauled him into the courthouse, the crowd got angrier. People yelled "pigs," "cowards" and other hostile words about Frugoli, specifically, and the police in general.
"If I hit your kids, it would be a different story! " one man shouted as Cook County sheriff's officers created a human barrier on the front steps of the courthouse.
"Only $500,000—that's what two lives are worth?!" yelled another member of the crowd, referring to Andrew Cazares, 23, and Fausto Manzera, 21, the two men killed Friday in the fiery crash.
"Put that guy in jail, that's where he belongs!" a young woman yelled.
The non-violent standoff came after the prosecutor and defense attorney laid out new claims about the crash and Frugoli—some of them conflicting.
Frugoli, a burly man who appeared in court in jeans and a long-sleeve polo shirt, has been charged with two counts each of reckless homicide and aggravated DUI, plus one count of leaving the scene of a fatal crash. Authorities said his blood-alcohol content was more than three times the legal limit. He was released from custody Sunday after posting $50,000, 10 percent of the bail, said Steve Patterson, a sheriff's spokesman.
Police said the crash occurred around 3:30 a.m. Friday in Chicago on the southbound Dan Ryan Expressway north of 18th Street, after Cazares pulled his 1995 red Dodge Intrepid over to wait for help, possibly with a flat tire.
John Dillon, an assistant state's attorney who sought an "extremely high bond," said that Frugoli's blood-alcohol level was 0.277 when his 2008 Lexus SUV crashed into the Dodge, and that he was driving 60 to 65 m.p.h., which was above the speed limit.
According to witnesses, Dillon said, the impact propelled the Dodge forward as if it "had been shot from a cannon" and caused it to explode like "a bomb went off."
When officials from the Illinois Department of Transportation arrived, Frugoli tried to flee on foot until he was stopped by an official from the department, Dillon said.
Frugoli's defense attorney, Gregg Smith, said the Dodge was stopped in the right-hand lane with its lights off, not pulled off to the shoulder, as the prosecution said. Smith said there was no proof that Frugoli was speeding and that he was not trying to flee when he started to walk away from the scene.
"My client was disoriented," said Smith, who sought a $200,000 bail, which he said was "reasonable."
Frugoli, he insisted, "wasn't trying to evade arrest."
Smith portrayed Frugoli as a committed police officer born and raised in Chicago whose strong family ties prevented him from being a flight risk.
Frugoli's ex-wife and 16-year-old daughter live in the city, Smith said.
Frugoli lives in a three-flat with his brother and his brother's three children. His father, who died in 2007, and his mother, who recently died, used to live in the three-flat as well.
He said Frugoli's father served in the Chicago Police Department, and that Frugoli has received honor and distinction for his service on the force.
Dillon pointed out that Frugoli, who has been relieved of his police powers, had a history of driving dangerously, pointing to a 2005 crash and a 1990 speeding ticket.
Last week, a Cook County judge ordered Frugoli to pay more than $7,000 in damages in a civil case involving the 2005 crash, in which Frugoli struck a 61-year-old man's vehicle from behind on the Dan Ryan, pushing it into a median wall. Frugoli, who denied consuming alcohol before that crash, was cited with failure to reduce speed, but the ticket was dropped.
In 1990, Frugoli was cited with driving 80 m.p.h. in a 50-m.p.h. zone and with disregarding a stop sign in 2008, but those tickets also were thrown out, court documents show.
Smith said Frugoli did not have a criminal history and that receiving traffic tickets was not unusual. "We've all had traffic incidents," Smith said.
But many of the friends and relatives of Cazares and Manzera, already devastated by the loss of their loved ones, saw the $500,000 bail as a sign that Frugoli was receiving special treatment because he is a police officer.
"We're upset by the decision," said Mike Angelo, a friend of the victims.
Ed Page, a friend of Cazares, offered his blunt assessment of Frugoli: "He's a murderer."
04-13-09, 12:00 PM
#4
I'm okay with the bail. I think its normal. Even when we had a case where an off duty cop was drunk, ran a red light, and killed a female driver, he got bail. He also got whatever the max prison term is in a federal prison. I think it was 25 to life.
04-13-09, 01:33 PM
#5
Lexus Fanatic
Probably right based on flight risk. Can't predict suicide risk.
Trending Topics
04-16-09, 05:27 AM
#9
Pole Position
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Lake Country, WI
Posts: 2,794
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
In Milwaukee last week they pulled over an off-duty officer driving by the airport who was about to board a flight for Las Vegas for vacation.... BOC was..........
.44 !!!!
.44 !!!!
04-16-09, 12:20 PM
#10
Lexus Champion
There seems to be a lot of news stories about police and alcoholism. Just read a couple today.
I just hope these officers are treated just like everyone else and there is no special treatment. In fact, they should probably held to a higher standard. Sad, but that's what happens when you're in a position of power.
I just hope these officers are treated just like everyone else and there is no special treatment. In fact, they should probably held to a higher standard. Sad, but that's what happens when you're in a position of power.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
LexFather
GX - 1st Gen (2004-2009)
7
08-30-07 08:07 AM
