Posted on 05/26/2007 6:21:14 AM PDT by Krankor
A DuPage County prosecutor killed in a drunken driving crash was traveling more than 80 mph and possibly using her cell phone seconds before her government-issued car struck another vehicle head-on, authorities said Friday.
A 33-page police report also indicated that Jane Radostits had been drinking before the May 11 crash during a long lunch at an Oak Brook restaurant with seven other prosecutors and another office staffer.
Lab results released last week showed that Radostits, 46, had a blood-alcohol level of .25 percent -- three times the level at which a motorist is considered drunk.
"She was drunk, and she was speeding. Those are horrible circumstances," DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett said Friday after reviewing the crash report prepared by the DuPage County Sheriff's Department.
The 3:45 p.m. crash seriously injured Michele Lubinski, 36, of West Chicago, whose sport-utility vehicle was hit by Radostits' county-issued Chevy Impala. Two other vehicles were damaged in the crash near Winfield.
"My heart is broken over what's taken place," Birkett said.
He confirmed Friday that veteran prosecutor Jeffrey Kendall, who had been drinking with Radostits and later gave her a ride in his county car back to the Wheaton courthouse so she could pick up her work vehicle, has resigned in the wake of the revelations. But Birkett would not say whether he asked Kendall to leave.
Birkett would not comment on whether any of the other prosecutors who had been at the lunch at the Kona Grill in Oak Brook have been disciplined, though sources say none has been punished.
Radostits and Kendall were the first to arrive at the restaurant, coming from the DuPage County courthouse after a bomb threat forced the closure of the building. While other prosecutors arrived later and stayed for a lesser amount of time, Radostits and Kendall spent at least three hours there, investigators said.
Other prosecutors who were with Radostits, a respected deputy bureau chief in the office, estimated she had three to five drinks, but they told police they saw "no outward signs of impairment or intoxication."
Radostits and Kendall, who could not be reached for comment, had received permission to take the rest of the day off, officials said.
Data obtained from Radostits' Impala indicated that in the seconds before the crash, she was driving between 81 and 85 mph -- far exceeding the posted 45 mph limit, investigators said. There was no indication that Radostits tried to brake before the crash on Winfield Road, nor did she appear to be wearing a seat belt, investigators said.
"The excessive speed combined with the blood alcohol level may have given the driver of the Impala a false sense of how fast she was traveling," Detective Kevin Farley wrote in the crash report.
Phone records also indicate she apparently was making a cell phone call about the time the crash occurred, investigators said in the report.
Sheriff John Zaruba declined to comment on the crash report, except to say it had been released without prior review by Birkett's office.
Lubinski, who broke her left arm and left leg in the crash, remains "completely bedridden," her attorney said Friday.
Attorney Dennis Stefanowicz questioned why at least some prosecutors were drinking after the bomb threat closed down the courthouse.
"This wasn't a routine bomb threat," he said. "It seemed to be more of a party on behalf of the DuPage County state's attorney's office."
Did you vote absentee from there for Mr. Birkett?
Leni
Makes you wonder how many were the 3 beer .08 DUI candidates, whose lives and families were destroyed by frivolous charges, massive fees, and lost jobs, despite being found innocent.
“This does not diminish all her good work, Jane was a dedicated prosecutor who removed many dangerous drivers from our roadways,” said Charlene Chapman, executive director of the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists.
Fate works in mysterious ways.
DUI Cops, attorneys and judges should all lead by example, and have their business and personal cars wired with interlock devices, and must blow into a machine each time they start their cars.
Radostits’ family lives right around the corner from me. She was loved and respected by this community.
It is a sad day in Homer Glen. I hope the media doesn’t go over the top on this story. There is really only one “bad guy” in this and unfortunately, she cannot defend herself from rumors and innuendo.
RIP, Jane.
.25!!!!!!!! How did no one think that she might just be a *little* too drunk to drive?!?!
Flash chips in most cars. My company has used them against employees in the past.
I don't know if anyone has ever had one. Even Fat Ted wouldn't spoil his mug of whiskey with a beer.
It was on a list some of my friends and I came up with about how to get messed up in a hurry. Others on the list were the Coke&Rum (just enough Coke to give the rum some color) and drilling a hole in the bottom a liquor bottle to shotgun it.
Must have been quite a lunch. How great is it to work for the government!!
The election was in 2002. I moved to Moldava in ‘04.
I have been a fireman for 19 years. No matter how blind stinking drunk someone is, they have always had “2 beers.”
The fact that they say she had 3-5 probably means pitchers...
Maybe she was drinking dry martinis or Rob Roys or Harry Buffalo...
According to this link, a person weighing 140 lbs, who had 5 “rob roy” drinks over the course of 2 hours, would have a blood alcohol level of .26 (or .21 for the martinis)
http://www.ou.edu/oupd/bac.htm
I don't believe that to be the case. I think it is simply constantly refreshed in non-volatile ram.
There was a Security Police gal who blew .25 a few years ago.
She was riding a motorcycle when the pulled her over.
Thankfully, I was never a hard liquor devotee, with the exception of an occasional shot of Jagermeister, or an occasional Margarita.
Of course, German beers of the dunkel, doppeldunkel, und bock varieties packed quite a wallop unto themselves.
Nowadays, I get a look of surprise when I'm enjoying a tall Guinness (draft only), especially when I tell them it has the same alcohol content as a Coors Light.
I've never had a hangover from Guinness, nor have I gotten very tipsy after drinking a few, which is an extremely rare event nowadays. If I do feel any tipsyness, the keys are handed over to my wife.
And I know personally that he is devastated by this event.
Joe is a good guy who will do the right thing. Any blame to be assessed will be and he'll see that punishments, if any, are swift and severe.
L
I feel terrible for her family and I have a feeling the papers are unsure how to pursue the matter without revealing some personal issues of Ms. Radostits that have nothing to do with Birkett’s coverup. But the fact remains, one woman is dead and three other people could have been killed because of an incident that occured during a work day with 6 or 7 county prosecutors present. Birkett is leaving a lot of questions unanswered and the sheriff apparently isn’t talking very much either.
You better believe if it was a bunch of co-workers from the local Home Depot involved, Birkett would be doing some heavy duty investigating.
The closest I ever got to your line of work was as a firefighter for the Calif. Div. of Forestry during two summers in college. It was the perfect job for an adventurous young lad.
Why are these putrid lawyers drinking anyway during lunchtime on the job? Most lawyers are scumbugs anyway.
Seems like an easy challenge; Does GM build more precision and quality into systems that may never be used by their customers, such as data recorders and OnStar, than the systems that are in continuous use by their customers and which accuracy is dependent on, fuel gauges and trip computers, etc.? ...
Also: Ban DuPage County prosecutor now! - Do it for the children!
“Terribly written piece. Did she die in the crash or not?’
LOL
Yeah, the reporter holds off telling us what happened until the first line of the article.
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