Elgin man charged with 8th DUI

An Elgin man with seven prior DUI convictions — three of them felonies — was ordered held on $150,000 bail Tuesday on charges of driving while intoxicated.

Joseph Martinez, 44, was arrested July 15 near Sutton and Golf roads in Hoffman Estates after police responded to a call about a reckless driver and a passenger attempting to kick out a window, said Cook County assistant state's attorney David Shin.

Police stopped a car matching the description. Shin said Martinez, the driver, had bloodshot, glassy eyes, slurred speech and the strong odor of alcohol about him.

Martinez agreed to perform field sobriety tests but stopped them midway saying “DUI, DUI,” Shin said. The female passenger was not charged, Shin said.

Breathalyzer results indicated .14, nearly twice the legal intoxication limit of .08.

Charged with a class X felony, Martinez faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted. He next appears in court on Aug. 5.

Martinez's most recent DUI convictions came in 2008 in Wisconsin, where he was sentenced to two years in prison on one charge and one year in prison on another, with the sentences to be served concurrently.

His record also includes a two-year sentence in Illinois for a DUI conviction in 2004 and 90 days in jail for a Wisconsin DUI in 2006. He also has DUI convictions from 1993, 1997 and 1998, Shin said. Martinez was also convicted of unlawful phone use in 2014, disorderly conduct in 2000, criminal damage to property in 1992 and domestic battery in 1991.