Thread: Prosecutors say driver who hit officer was highly intoxicate

(Illegal Alien)Guilty of killing Cook County Sheriff

Prosecutors say driver who hit officer was highly intoxicated

September 12, 2007
BY KIM JANSSEN Staff writer

A 27-year-old motorist accused of running a red light and smashing into a Cook County sheriff's officer's car, killing her as she drove to church, had drunk more than 25 beers before the crash, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Reputed gang member Lionel Ortiz, of the 5800 block of South Albany, who is charged with the reckless homicide of 58-year-old Minerva Santiago and aggravated driving under the influence, spent Saturday night and the early hours of Sunday drinking at two parties with friends, Cook County state's attorney spokeswoman Tandra Simonton said.

He then went to a gas station and bought six more beers, visited a girlfriend and drank two more beers while driving around "looking for something to do," Simonton said.

He ran his Chevrolet Blazer through a red light at 31st Street and Western Avenue at 9:50 a.m. Sunday, T-boning Santiago's Nissan Sedan, Simonton said.

Santiago, of Palos Heights, was declared dead within an hour at Mount Sinai Hospital.

Ortiz had a blood-alcohol level of 0.194, more than two times the legal limit, Simonton said.
He gave a videotaped confession, admitting to drinking a case of beer, she said, adding that police found a tequila bottle in his car that a passenger had tried to hide.

He also faces charges of driving on a suspended license and disobeying a red light, both misdemeanors.

He never has had a valid driver's license, Simonton said.

Several witnesses, including three unharmed passengers in Ortiz' car and one unharmed passenger in Santiago's, witnessed the crash, she said.

Ortiz was sentenced to a three-month supervision order last year after being convicted of drinking in the public way, state's attorney spokesman Andy Conklin said.

Ortiz was ordered held on bail of $400,000 by Judge Donald Panarese during a brief hearing at Cook County Court Tuesday afternoon.
Ortiz did not attend the hearing. He still is hospitalized at Stroger Hospital for a severe leg injury suffered during the crash.

Santiago was the first Hispanic woman to be promoted to sergeant by the Illinois Department of Corrections and had 25 years experience as a corrections officer.
She was superintendent of the Department of Women's Justice, a post overseeing the treatment of convicted addicts, which she had held since 1999.

A mother of two adult children, Santiago planned to retire in a couple of years, family members said Monday.

Kim Janssen can be reached at (70 633-5998 or at kjanssen@dailysouthtown.com.

http://www.dailysouthtown.com/news/5525 ... ss.article

...and yet another AMERICAN victim. This is senseless and tragic.

Does it give his status anywhere?

There are other articles about Lionel Ortiz and to put this in News, it must be in print that he is an illegal alien.

Thanks,

Dixie