Kane Co. official pushing no-refusal DUI tests

Kane County State's Attorney John Barsanti is trying a new tack to put some teeth in his no-refusal DUI crackdowns.

The latest driver to refuse to have a blood-alcohol test - in a campaign conducted in Elgin last weekend - was charged with felony obstruction of justice.

Roberto Perez, 41, of the 0-99 block of Woodland Avenue, Elgin, also faces misdemeanor driving under the influence of alcohol and an obstruction of a peace officer charges, according to Barsanti.

In a no-refusal operation, police and state's attorneys arrange for expedited search warrants to conduct blood tests on those who refuse to take breath or urine tests for DUI. They also arrange to have phlebotomists available to draw blood.

The operation is designed to go after repeat DUI offenders, who may consider it better to have their licenses suspended immediately for refusing to submit to testing rather than risk mandatory revocation if they are convicted of DUI.

Illinois law considers drivers to have given "implied consent" to DUI testing when they obtain their licenses.

The first time a no-refusal campaign was done in Kane County, Memorial Day weekend of 2008, a Montgomery man refused to submit to the search warrant and was charged with contempt of court. A judge found him not guilty of contempt, saying that refusing to comply with a search warrant was not the same as refusing to comply with a court order.

The Elgin event was conducted from 11 p.m. Friday to 6:30 a.m. Saturday, and 11 p.m. Saturday to 3 a.m. Sunday.

Of the eight arrested, three initially refused to consent to a blood-alcohol sample. After police told them they would seek a court order to draw blood, two submitted to the breath tests.

A warrant was obtained for Perez, but police did not take blood from him. Barsanti said he is "nervous about holding a guy down to collect blood," and that if the obstruction charges don't work, he would consider dropping the no-refusal events altogether.

Obstruction of justice occurs when someone conceals evidence, Barsanti said; in a DUI case, that would be hiding the amount of alcohol in your blood. Obstruction of a peace officer happens when you fail to obey specific instructions from officers - in this case to submit to a breath test.

"We are kind of treading on a little bit of different ground," Barsanti said Tuesday.

Others charged last weekend were:

• Jorge Munoz-Guerrero, 26, of the 0-99 block of North McLean Boulevard, Elgin, misdemeanor DUI.

• Juan M. Rodriguez-Chiquito, 27, of the 200 block of Waverly Court, Carpentersville, misdemeanor DUI, and four counts of felony aggravated DUI (two for driving without a valid license and two for driving without insurance).

• Manuel Jesus Batres, 35, of the 200 block of Gertrude Street, Elgin, misdemeanor DUI.

• Cynthia Sandoval, 18, of the 1000 block of Cedar Avenue, Elgin, misdemeanor DUI.

• Alfredo Ponce, 20, of the 7W200 block of Route 31, South Elgin, misdemeanor DUI.

• Edgar Gomez, 21, of the 100 block of David Drive, Streamwood, misdemeanor DUI.

• Paul Bounsinh, 46, of the 0-99 block of Jefferson Lane, Streamwood, misdemeanor DUI.

Refusal: Contempt of court charges didn't stick in the past