Hanover Park man charged with felony DUI after crashing twice with two young children in the car

A Hanover Park man was denied pretrial release Tuesday after police say he was driving drunk when he crashed into another car and then a tree, injuring his two young children who were in the vehicle without child restraints.

Eric Hernandez, 31, of the 2100 block of Cedar Avenue, was charged with two counts of Aggravated DUI — Great Bodily Harm, a Class 4 Felony, and multiple misdemeanor and petty traffic offenses.

Authorities say Hernandez was speeding in his black Honda CRV on County Farm Road just after 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 9 when he rear-ended another car that was doing about 40 mph.

The investigation showed that Hernandez swerved into oncoming traffic, left the roadway, and hit a tree on the 6N200 block of County Farm Road.

When Hanover Park police arrived, they found two children, later identified as Hernandez’s son and stepdaughter, in the grass nearby. The boy was lying sideways on the grass with a large amount of blood on his face while the girl was lying nearby, crying and appearing to have an injury to her arm, police say.

Hernandez and the children were all transported to the hospital. Officials allege that at the hospital Hernandez’s blood alcohol content was 0.151. The driver of the other vehicle was uninjured.

Hernandez will be arraigned on Dec. 9.

If found guilty, he faces a penalty of up to twelve years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.