States Attorney
REPEAT DUI OFFENDER SENTENCED TO 13 YEARS
WHEATON – DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett today announced that Judge Mark Dwyer has sentenced Gary A. Johnson, 49 (d.o.b. 4/11/1958), 570 Thornhill Drive, #115, Carol Stream, to 13 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol and five years for Aggravated Driving While License Revoked. The charges will be served concurrently. The charges and today’s sentencing are the result of a May 3, 2007 collision in Carol Stream involving Mr. Johnson and a school bus.
At approximately 2:15 p.m. on May 3, the Carol Stream Police Department responded to a collision at Geneva Road and West Street. An investigation into the crash revealed that the school bus was traveling westbound on Geneva Road approaching West Street while Johnson was traveling eastbound on Geneva Road. As the driver passed the entrance to the Geneva Plaza, Johnson attempted to turn into the Plaza, colliding with the driver side quarter panel of the school bus. When interviewing Mr. Johnson about the crash, police detected a strong odor of alcohol coming from Mr. Johnson. Blood alcohol content testing would later reveal Johnson’s blood alcohol level was .155. The school bus was empty at the time of the accident.
“Today, Mr. Johnson’s disregard for the law and for public safety finally caught up with him,” remarked Birkett. “He will now spend a significant amount of time behind bars, unable to put the motoring public at risk by getting behind the wheel of a car. While the driver of the school bus did sustain minor injuries, thankfully, there were no children on the school bus at the time of the crash and there was no loss of life. I would like to thank the Carol Stream Police Department and the staff at Central DuPage Hospital for their assistance in this matter as well as Assistant State’s Attorney Michael Pawl who did an excellent job in prosecuting this case.”
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