M Mount Prospect man gets 5 years for 7th DUI
A Mount Prospect man who authorities say has six prior DUI convictions has pleaded guilty to a seventh.
In exchange for his guilty plea to felony DUI Wednesday, Piotr Kowalczyk, 48, was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay $6,979 in fines, court records show. He has four previous felony convictions for DUI and two misdemeanor DUI convictions, prosecutors said.
On Sept. 22, 2014, Kowalczyk's car nearly struck an Arlington Heights squad car, which Kowalczyk approached from behind at a high rate of speed, prosecutors said.
The officer followed Kowalczyk and stopped him after he observed Kowalczyk commit a traffic violation. During the stop, the officer noticed the defendant had bloodshot, glassy eyes, slurred speech and smelled of alcohol, prosecutors said.
Kowalczyk failed field sobriety tests. His breath test registered a .185 blood alcohol content, prosecutors said. He was driving on a revoked license at the time of his arrest.
Kowalczyk was sentenced to two years in prison in 2006 and four years in prison in 2010 for DUI. He received a one-year sentence for a 1999 DUI conviction and probation for a 1996 aggravated DUI conviction, prosecutors said. He also has misdemeanor DUI convictions from 1992 and 1989.
Kowalczyk received credit for the 286 days he has been in custody since his arrest last September.