Police: Ex-Mount Prospect administrator charged with DUI
Former Mount Prospect village administrator Michael Janonis has again been charged with DUI - this time after hitting a parked car in Prospect Heights Wednesday evening, Prospect Heights police say.
Police say Janonis blew a .366 - more than four and a half times the legal threshold - and was found with an open bottle of vodka in his car after an employee at 7-Eleven called police at about 8 p.m. to report a hit-and-run, said Stephanie Conboy, Prospect Heights public information officer.
The employee told police he saw a blue Toyota Cruiser back into a Toyota Camry in the business' parking lot at 1 N. Wolf Road before turning south from Wolf Road and east from Camp McDonald Road and onto nearby Mandel Lane.
Police located the vehicle on Mandel Lane and could see damage to the rear end of the vehicle as they approached to talk with Janonis, 59, of the 1300 block of Burning Bush, Mount Prospect.
"He was inside the car. The vehicle was on, and the car was in drive," Conboy said. "Officers asked him to step out of the vehicle. They could smell a strong alcoholic odor from the person."
Janonis refused a field sobriety test and based on the odor and observations, he was placed under arrest and taken to the police department. He later agreed to take a Breathalyzer and blew 0.366, police reports said.
Janonis was charged with DUI, failure to notify damage to an unattended vehicle, and illegal possession and transportation of liquor. Officers found an open and partially empty bottle of vodka in the passenger-seat storage flap on the back of the seat, Conboy said.
Janonis served as Mount Prospect's top administrator for 24 years. He parted ways with the village in April of last year after spending the previous five months on leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act for unspecified reasons.
At the time, Mayor Arlene Juracek confirmed that the board asked Janonis to leave. The board approved a separation agreement that totaled more than $200,000 in salary, a lump-sum payment and other compensation to end his position with the village. He made more than $184,000 at the time.
It's not the first time Janonis has faced charges for driving a vehicle while intoxicated.
He was arrested in June 2010 and charged with DUI after being stopped for speeding in McHenry. He blew a .218 - almost three times the legal threshold. At the time, he denied having a drinking problem.
"This is not an indication of who I am or how I typically act," Janonis told the Daily Herald in 2010. "It was a combination of dumb things. I was with a bunch of high school friends at a golf outing all day and we didn't eat lunch."
He pleaded guilty to those charges and was placed on a one-year supervision, fined $2,500 plus court costs and was required to attend court-mandated counseling. Janonis was not disciplined by the village for those charges.
On Wednesday, he was released on his own recognizance. He's expected to appear before a judge in the Rolling Meadows courthouse at 9 a.m. Sept. 22.