Judge dismisses DUI case against former Bears QB Avellini

Former Chicago Bears quarterback Bob Avellini is racking up quite a win-loss record in court.

After four arrests for drunken driving since 2002 in DuPage County, Avellini has only been convicted once. His latest court victory came Wednesday when 18-month-old drunken driving charges against him were dismissed. Wheaton city prosecutor Pete Baroni said he plans to refile the charges Thursday.

DuPage Judge Ronald Sutter threw out the case against Avellini after the arresting officer failed to appear in court Wednesday morning. The former Wheaton officer now lives in Florida and his flight was canceled Tuesday because of inclement weather, the prosecutor said.

Baroni's request for a continuance was denied because the trial already had been delayed seven times since Avellini's latest arrest, Sutter said.

Avellini was arrested just after midnight June 15, 2007, police said. According to a Wheaton police report, an officer observed Avellini's car swerve into another lane as it headed west on Roosevelt Road near Naperville Road. At one point the officer wrote that Avellini nearly ran through a flashing red light signal at Liberty Avenue and Main Street, but stopped in the middle of the intersection.

When the officer pulled Avellini over, the 55-year-old Roselle resident refused to take a breath test or undergo any field sobriety tests, police said.

Avellini was first arrested on charges of drunken driving near Burr Ridge in 2002. He was convicted of that offense. However, in 2005 he was arrested by Wood Dale police and later acquitted. Downers Grove police arrested Avellini five months after his Wood Dale arrest, but that case ended in a mistrial because there was no audio of the recorded traffic stop.

Avellini spent 10 seasons in the NFL, the majority with the Bears from 1975 to 1984. The native New Yorker finished his career with the New York Jets, retiring in 1984 with a 23-27 record as a starter.