Park Rangers arrest man for driving while license suspended/revoked for DUI, and other tickets. All charges dismissed. Download the court records
Lewis Gainor defended a client who was arrested on September 4, 2005 in Lake County Forrest Preserve. The client was a young man who was going camping along with his friends for a weekend.
The man and his friends had set up camp and a fire. They popped open a few beers, and began to relax. But the driver had forgotten to pay the admittance fee required in order to use the camp site where they had set up. Because of this, he got into his car and started back down the road to the entrance of the park. The speed limit at the park was no more than 15 miles per hour. Because there was no one around, the driver allowed his car to exceed the speed limit.
Without seeing them, the driver passed park rangers from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. They were parked off the side of the road in a Jeep that had been converted into a squad car. They immediately pulled behind him and hit their lights.
The park rangers exited their squad and asked for his license and registration. The man's license was suspended for a previous DUI case. They issued him three tickets: driving while license suspended/revoked for DUI, driving without proof of insurance, and driving while registration suspended for non-insurance.
Lewis Gainor's client was facing up to $5,500 in fines. Additionally, his client, if convicted of driving during the suspension/revocation, would lose his eligibility for reinstatement for double the length of the original suspension/revocation.
Waukegan attorney Lewis Gainor appeared with the man in the Lake County Circuit Courthouse on April 28, 2005, and filed a motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence. Lewis Gainor argued that the park rangers had no right to conduct the traffic stop.
The People of the State of Illinois, represented by the Lake County State's Attorney, had no choice but to dismiss all the charges.
