Man arrested on charges of 5th DUI in South Elgin

A 52-year-old La Fox man was charged with his fifth DUI Saturday after nearly striking a squad car already on the shoulder for a different traffic stop, according to police and court records.

A South Elgin police officer pulled over Michael Piepenbrink, of the 1N300 block of La Fox Street, about 12:52 a.m. Saturday after he sped by an officer on Route 31, south of McLean Boulevard, who was making a traffic stop and was later seen driving erratically, said South Elgin police Sgt. Craig Steurer.

The officer making the traffic stop saw a 2000 blue Dodge pickup in his side mirror and feared he was going to be hit. The officer saw the truck come to a sudden stop at a traffic light and then observed the truck proceeding erratically, Steurer said.

The officer smelled alcohol on Piepenbrink, who admitted to drinking, Steurer said. Piepenbrink refused to perform field sobriety tests, but a preliminary breath test showed a reading of .192 blood alcohol concentration, Steurer said.

The legal threshold in Illinois is .08.

Piepenbrink was charged with felony aggravated DUI after authorities learned he had DUI arrests in 1983, 1990, 1992 and 1993, Steurer said.

Additional information on those four previous arrests was not immediately available; records show that none of them occurred in Kane, McHenry or DeKalb counties.

Piepenbrink also was cited for improper lane use. No open alcohol nor contraband was found in his vehicle, Steurer said.

Piepenbrink was being held on $100,000 bail at the Kane County jail. He faces between four and 15 years in prison if convicted, and probation is an option.