Woman gets 20 days for driving school bus while intoxicated

A former school bus driver pleaded guilty Monday to aggravated drivng under the influence for transporting West Chicago elementary students while she was intoxicated.

Jill Beebe, 43, of the 700 block of Dean Drive in South Elgin, was sentenced to 20 days in jail and two years of probation. She began serving her sentence immediately.

Beebe previously admitted drinking four bottles of Mike's Hard Lemonade and two “strong” vodka-lemonade cocktails before going to bed around midnight and starting her route at 6 a.m. on Sept. 13, 2013.

“I know you say you consumed the alcohol the night before,” Judge George Bakalis said during sentencing, “but I can't imagine how much you had to drink to still be over the legal limit the next morning.”

According to court records, Beebe registered a 0.086 blood-alcohol level when she was stopped by West Chicago police.

West Chicago school officials called police after a teacher's aide smelled alcohol on Beebe's breath during her first stop to pick up 62 children at Pioneer Elementary School, according to DuPage County prosecutors.

They said Beebe was ordered to stop by a bus dispatcher, but she continued on to Gary Elementary School, where she dropped off 55 children and picked up 44 others.

Police confronted Beebe during a third stop at Currier Elementary School. Prosecutors said Beebe was “chewing a lot of gum” and appeared “extremely nervous.”

Beebe was not an employee of the district, but of Illinois Central School Bus in St. Charles, which has been under contract with the district for three years.