Glen Ellyn man sentenced to seven years for driving drunk, injuring others
A DuPage County judge sentenced a Glen Ellyn man to seven years in prison Tuesday for a drunken driving spree that included several hit-and-run crashes from Villa Park to Lombard and severely injured another motorist.
Lawrence Sieber, of the 0-100 block of South Park Avenue, negotiated his plea deal last month in which he pleaded guilty to aggravated DUI causing great bodily harm in exchange for prosecutors' capping their sentencing range at nine years.
Sieber, 63, has been held on $750,000 bail since his Jan. 22, 2017, arrest in Lombard.
Prosecutors alleged Sieber drove his pickup truck through a stop sign at the intersection of Ardmore Avenue and Jackson Street in Villa Park about 4:50 p.m. that day and crashed into another driver.
Prosecutors said the man suffered numerous broken ribs, among other injuries, in the crash. A second driver refused medical treatment.
Sieber, meanwhile, fled south on Ardmore where he was involved in a second crash at Roosevelt Road, police said. That crash sent another driver to Elmhurst Hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.
He then fled again, police said, heading west on Roosevelt Road, where he was involved in a third crash, this time at Westmore Avenue. No injuries were reported in that crash.
Seiber again fled and was located by Lombard police on the 800 block of East Roosevelt Road. When officers tried to stop him, he smashed his truck into another vehicle stopped for a traffic light at Roosevelt and Finley.
Sieber was taken into custody following a brief struggle with officers in which he had to be forcibly removed from his truck, authorities said.
Prosecutors said five hours after the crash, Sieber's blood alcohol content level was .08.
"There is a reason why drinking and driving is against the law- to protect the motoring public from people like (Sieber)," DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said after the ruling. "Not only did (Sieber) think nothing of driving after he had been drinking, he thought nothing of the potential harm he could cause to others."
At the time of his 2017 arrest, Sieber had a pending DUI case from 2016. He pleaded guilty in April 2017 and was sentenced to a year in jail.
In his apology to the victim, who suffered numerous broken ribs, among other injuries, Sieber blamed his alcoholism on a string of tragic life events including the murder of his college-aged son and his wife's fatal battle with cancer. In jail, he said, he has taken up Bible study and turned his life around.
He must serve 85 percent of the sentence before being eligible for parole.