Cops: Woodridge pilot on drugs at time of crash
A licensed pilot who literally walked away from the crash of his single-engine plane two months ago near a private DuPage County air strip was drunk and on drugs, a criminal indictment alleges.
Sean M. Oskvarek is accused of operating the aircraft with alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, opiates and a prescription sedative in his system. The grand jury indictment was made public Wednesday.
Oskvarek was the only person aboard the Cessna 182 about 11 p.m. Nov. 15 when it clipped a house and flew into tall evergreen trees before coming to rest upside-down in a yard just east of the Brookeridge Air Park runway near Downers Grove.
Authorities said the 45-year-old Woodridge man left the crash scene on the 8400 block of Kentwood Court before rescuers arrived. Police later tracked down Oskvarek in Woodridge and, after checking his injuries at a hospital, arrested him on charges he was impaired while operating the aircraft.
Oskvarek faces probation or two to five years in prison if convicted. The law considers pilots impaired if their blood-alcohol level exceeds .04, compared to .08 for motorists. It also forbids alcohol consumption up to eight hours before a flight. The pilot is free on a $100,000 bond. His attorney, Brian D. St. Hilaire, was not immediately available for comment.
Oskvarek will be arraigned Feb. 17 before DuPage Circuit Judge Blanche Hill Fawell.
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