Report: Drunken driver ignored cops for 5 miles on Randall Road
An intoxicated driver headed about five miles on Randall Road from Geneva to St. Charles, speeding and veering into oncoming traffic while a police officer pursued him Sunday afternoon, according to authorities.
The officer and driver fought during the traffic stop, and the situation nearly turned deadly, according to police.
“In my nearly 23 years of police experience, I did not recall ever hearing so many vivid complaints coming in so fast,” said the responding officer in a St. Charles police report. “I knew this was a very serious situation.”
The black Acura TL, which police originally spotted on Randall Road near Bricher Road, was finally stopped at Silver Glen Road about 1:15 p.m., according to a police report.
A St. Charles police officer spotted the driver, 38-year-old Prince Skariah of South Elgin, playing with a tiny Shih Tzu-type puppy in the front seat when he approached the stopped vehicle, according to the report.
Skariah had “very bloodshot, red, and water eyes” and was swaying back and forth in the vehicle, according to the report.
Skariah ignored the officer and continued playing with the dog, and when the officer asked for license and insurance, the man said, “No! I'm an executive at a major corporation. People don't tell me what to do. I give orders and tell people what to do,” according to the report.
The officer also found a partially consumed bottle of vodka on the floorboard and a glass with a clear liquid in the center console, according to the report.
Skariah told the officer he “might of wove a little bit being distracted by the puppy, but he broke no laws,” according to the police report.
He then said he needed to leave and get home with the puppy.
The officer noticed Skariah reach for the shifter to put the car into gear and the two began struggling for the key, according to police.
The officer then pushed Skariah away and Skariah spit in his face as they continued to fight, according to police.
“I believed this fight was becoming a fight for my life ... or ... a fight for the life of an innocent victim the offender would likely crash into if allowed to escape,” the officer wrote in the report.
As Skariah attempted to move his foot toward the accelerator, the officer grabbed his wrist and yanked him as hard as he could from the vehicle, according to the report.
The two ended up fighting in a traffic lane, but the officer was able to handcuff him and bring him to his squad car with the help of an off-duty U.S. marshal who ran up during the arrest, according to police.
Skariah offered to “make a deal,” saying he would not sue the officer and ruin his life, if police let him go without charges, police said.
Skariah fought officers and a firefighter who were forced to cuff him to a cot and take him to Delnor Hospital for a minor injury to his arm, according to the report.
After his treatment at the hospital, Skariah invited the officer to his home for a barbecue but then threatened to bankrupt him, according to the report.
Skariah was charged with driving under the influence, obstructing and resisting a police officer, illegal transportation of alcohol, speeding, failure to yield to an emergency vehicle and improper lane usage, according to police.