Trial date set for ex-Bear Avellini on DUI charges
A DuPage County judge Friday set a Dec. 1 trial date for a former Chicago Bears quarterback charged with his third DUI.
Bob Avellini, 60, was expected to plead guilty in the year-old case, but he will be allowed to travel to California next month to testify in a trial for a workers' compensation claim he filed against the Bears in 2011.
Judge Daniel Guerin set the trial date to keep the case from dragging out any longer.
"We have an agreement," Guerin said. "I thought we were resolving this today."
Assistant State's Attorney Cathy DeLaMar said a deal had been reached but any offer, if not accepted Friday, would be withdrawn on Nov. 26, the day after Avellini is expected back from California.
Guerin also ordered Avellini to continue submitting to random breath tests to ensure he has not been drinking while on bail.
After his DUI arrest, Avellini was fitted with an ankle monitor that detects drinking. It eventually was removed after he complained that it caused a rash.
Guerin said he is "getting uneasy about the time that is passing (without Avellini) wearing a SCRAM bracelet."
Avellini, who played for the Bears from 1975 to 1984, was charged with the felony aggravated DUI on Sept. 15, 2013, when police stopped him near his home in Roselle.
According to court documents, Avellini's blood-alcohol level was .16, double the .08 limit, and he was nine days into a probationary term for a 2012 misdemeanor DUI conviction, which also resulted in his license being suspended. Avellini also was convicted of DUI in 2002.