Police: Woman facing 6th DUI charge after causing 2 crashes in 5 minutes
A 33-year-old woman has been charged with her sixth DUI after causing two crashes in Aurora last week within a five-minute span, police said.
Leah R. Behrens, of the 0-99 block of Chatham Place, Montgomery, faces three felony charges - aggravated DUI, obstructing justice and driving while her license was revoked - and numerous traffic offenses in connection with her arrest Feb. 6.
Aggravated DUI, which is the most severe charge, carries a prison term of six to 30 years if convicted with no chance of probation.
Police said Behrens caused two crashes about five minutes apart while driving her 2002 Mitsubishi Galant on the city's near west side.
The first crash, police said, was at 6:35 p.m. at Lake Street (Route 31) and Illinois Avenue, when Behrens struck two vehicles stopped at a light; neither of the other drivers, a 23-year-old Aurora man in a Honda Civic or a 27-year-old Glendale Heights man in a Saturn Vue, were injured.
Behrens drove off but was in a second crash at 6:40 p.m. at Broadway (Route 25) and Hazel, about 2½ miles away. Behrens was headed south on Broadway but was struck by a pickup truck when turning left onto Hazel, police said. A 36-year-old Plano man and his three children were in the 2011 GMC Sierra and were not injured.
Two Aurora officers were eating at a nearby restaurant and a patron told them about the crash. The officers went to investigate and found Behrens near her car and "displaying obvious signs of intoxication," police said.
Officers learned she was in the first crash and she was taken to a hospital. The obstructing justice charge accuses Behrens of refusing to cooperate when taken to another Aurora hospital for a court-ordered blood and urine draw, police said.
Information about all Behrens' previous DUI arrests was not immediately available.
Behrens was arrested by DeKalb County sheriff's deputies on charges of her fifth DUI Nov. 15, 2012, according to court records. She pleaded guilty in May 2013 and served half 4½-year sentence.
She was being held at the Kane County jail on $200,000 bail and is due in court Wednesday.