Police: Woman, 23, drove drunk with children in car in Riverside

A 23-year-old woman was charged Monday with driving drunk in west suburban Riverside while three small children were in the car.

Lucero M. Reyes, of Chicago, was driving south in the 3500 block of Harlem at 12:54 a.m. when an officer clocked her vehicle driving 51 mph in a 35 mph zone, according to Riverside police. The officer then saw the vehicle swerve right and violently strike a curb, before driving up into the grass and veering back into traffic.

After pulling the vehicle over in the 3600 block of South Harlem, the officer smelled alcohol on Reyes’ breath, police said. After being asked for her license, she denied having one and told the officer she had previously been arrested in Riverside for driving without a license. The officer conducted a series of field sobriety tests at the scene, which Reyes failed.

During the stop, the officer noticed there were two boys, ages 5 and 12, and a 7-year-old girl in the car, police said. There were also two other highly intoxicated adults in the vehicle.

Reyes was then taken into custody and the vehicle was towed, police said. A second vehicle was called to take the intoxicated passengers and the children to the Riverside police station until family members could be contacted to take custody of the children. Investigators contacted DCFS for an endangerment complaint based on the fact that Reyes was driving intoxicated with the children in the vehicle, police said.

While in custody, Reyes said she had been “partying” and drinking “Bud,” or Budweiser, police said. Officers recovered open cans of the beer from the vehicle that were still cold to the touch.

Reyes submitted to a breathalyzer test, which showed her blood alcohol content at 0.124 percent, more than the legal limit of 0.08 percent, police said. She was charged with felony aggravated DUI, endangering the life of a child, improper lane usage, no valid Illinois driver’s license and no insurance.

Reyes, who had been arrested last April in Riverside and charged with driving without a license after being stopped for speeding, has never had a driver’s license and never attempted to obtain one in Illinois, police said.