Wheaton man pleads guilty to elbowing cop in head during DUI arrest
A Wheaton man pleaded guilty Tuesday to elbowing a police officer in the head when police were arresting him on a drunken-driving charge.
Lucas Sage, 24, of the 1000 block of Briarbrook Drive, pleaded guilty to one count of felony aggravated battery in a deal where he accepted a sentence of two years of probation.
He will also have to pay the city of Wheaton $2,528 for restitution.
He could have been sentenced to up to seven years in prison.
Sage also pleaded guilty to one count of misdemeanor driving under the influence of alcohol. Judge John Kinsella sentenced him to two years of court supervision. Sage will have to undergo alcohol abuse counseling and perform 75 hours of community service. He could have been sentenced to up to a year in jail on the charge, probation or conditional discharge.
Sage was arrested shortly before on 8 p.m. July 27, 2019. Someone had called police to report an intoxicated driver on Briarbrook.
Police found Sage running after a man through a parking lot. When officers told him to stop, he lunged toward one officer, authorities said. He punched an officer in the face several times, punched another in the mouth, elbowed an officer in the head and elbowed another in the chest, authorities said at the time. Sage also head-butted a cage inside a squad car, denting it, police said.
Sage's lawyer said Sage has already undergone counseling for alcohol abuse. Sage has a conviction in Michigan for the illegal consumption of alcohol by a minor.
"I've done everything I possibly can to be a different man," Sage told Kinsella. "I grow each and every day."
"We all understand youthful exuberance mixed in with a large amount of alcohol can lead to really stupid behavior," Kinsella told Sage. "Some people just should not drink."