.079 Breathalyzer result for Chicago Cop Charged With DUI

The Chicago Policeman charged in with DUI in this weekend’s fatal hit-and-run accident had a blood alcohol level of .079 four hours after the accident. Many are now questioning why it took so long to administer the Breathalyzer test and whether the Chicago Police are giving preferential treatment to one of their own.

Full story follows below:

About 4 hours before cop in crash got Breathalyzer

Test came back .079 — just under .08 legal limit

BY LISA DONOVAN Staff Reporter Chicago Suntimes

About four hours lapsed between Chicago Police arresting a fellow officer in a deadly weekend crash and the administration of a Breathalyzer test to determine if the officer had been drinking, authorities said.

The tests on Chicago Police Officer Richard Bolling, 39, revealed a blood-alcohol level of .079, just shy of the .08 legal limit, according to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.

A police spokesman said the allegations against Bolling, of the 8600 block of S. Wolcott, are part of an internal investigation and that the department wouldn’t be commenting on the blood alcohol test.

Earlier in the day, Bolling appeared before Cook County Circuit Court Judge James Brown, who set bail at $2 million on charges he struck and killed a 13-year-old boy riding his bicycle early Friday at 81st and Ashland.

Relatives of the teen, Trenton Booker, showed up for what they believed was a noon hearing for Bolling — making his first court appearance — only to learn it had happened an hour earlier.

“I’m very angry,” said Morris Upton, who identified himself as Trenton’s grandfather.

Asked by reporters if Bolling received preferential treatment — considering the hearing was held before the boy’s family or the media arrived in court, Upton said: “Well, I’m sure.”

A man and woman who identified themselves as Trenton’s parents climbed into an SUV outside the courthouse building at 26th and California after learning the hearing was over. “We just lost our son,” the woman said, adding: “Let’s just hope justice is served.”

The officer’s attorney as well as relatives declined comment.

Before the crash, witnesses saw Bolling in a bar near 55th and Indiana, authorities said.

About 1:30 a.m., witnesses saw Bolling’s 2006 Dodge Charger traveling through the intersection of 81st and Ashland at a high rate of speed — striking Trenton as he rode his bicycle, authorities said.

Patrol officers arrested Bolling a few blocks away when they noticed he was driving the wrong way on a one-way street in the 1900 block of West 82nd Street, authorities said. The car sustained front-bumper damage and a shattered windshield. Inside the vehicle, officers found an open bottle of beer, according to the state’s attorney’s office.

The 17-year department veteran, currently assigned to a tactical narcotics unit, was charged with reckless homicide, aggravated DUI and leaving the scene of an accident involving death or injury.

The officer, off-duty at the time of the crash, has been stripped of his police powers.

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