All charges dropped against cop in fatal crash

by Matt Walberg, Chicago Breaking News Staff
Jun. 06, 2010

With a judge's earlier ruling that Chicago Police Officer John Ardelean had been arrested and detained without probable cause, Cook County prosecutors today dropped all charges against him in a crash that killed two people.

The 36-year-old officer was charged with drunken driving and reckless homicide after his SUV broadsided a car on Thanksgiving 2007.

Ardelean, flanked by a handful of police officers, strode silently out of the courthouse without speaking.

The Chicago Police Department later released a statement on the case that said: "The Chicago Police Department's internal investigation of this incident remains open. Officer Ardelean is currently on administrative duty and relieved of police powers."

Minutes after the case was dropped, the relatives of Erick Lagunas, one of the two men killed in the crash, milled disconsolately in front of the courthouse, their eyes wet with tears.

"We are very disappointed," Mayra Lagunas, a cousin of Lagunas said, her voice shaking. "I can't say that we didn't expect it after what happened last time. It hurts that they've taken something from us and we don't matter.

She said that while the family believes prosecutors did everything they could, it was not enough to overcome what they believe was a case of Ardelean's fellow officers covering up for him.

"(We're) angry with the government, the police department who covered for each other," she said, stuffing her shaking hands into her pants pockets. "We all sat in that room and saw them lie through their teeth."

She said that prosecutors spoke to family members before court to let them know of the decision to drop the case, saying they had pursued every legal option.

"The state's attorney said they pushed everything as far as they could," she said. "It's a joke -- they said we could continue with our civil suit, but no amount of money will pay for our loss."

Late Friday afternoon, Daniel O'Connor, the attorney for the Flores and Lagunas families and for the third person injured in the accident, relatives of the victims settled their civil suit against Ardelean. O'Connor said the Flores and Lagunas families settled about nine months ago; the third victim settled recently.

Citing the families' privacy, O'Connor would not disclose the amounts of the settlement but said that Ardelean's insurance company paid the maximum amount it could to the families. He also praised the insurance company for doing the right thing in its handling of the case.

The Cook County State's Attorney's Office released this statement regarding the criminal case:

"Regrettably, the Cook County State's Attorney's Office today dismissed charges of Aggravated DUI and Reckless Homicide against Chicago Police Officer John Ardelean, who was charged with causing an automobile crash that killed Miguel Flores and Erick Lagunas on November 22, 2007.

"A court ruling in this case last month quashed Officer Ardelean's arrest and suppressed key blood alcohol evidence that would have been required to enable the prosecution to meet its burden of proof and proceed with the case in good faith.

"Following that ruling, the Cook County State's Attorney's Office conducted an extensive and in-depth review to determine whether there were any grounds to appeal the court's ruling or continue onward with the case without the evidence that was suppressed.

"Unfortunately, it was determined that there were insufficient grounds to appeal the ruling and without the ability to use the evidence that was suppressed, the State's Attorney's Office could not move forward with this case in the good faith that the law requires.

"As tragic as this case is for the victims and their families, prosecutors have a legal and ethical obligation to only pursue cases in which there is sufficient evidence to meet that burden."

Mayra Lagunas' sister, Victoria Lagunas, said she believed the family was denied justice because of racism.

"I guess there's nothing more to say - it just goes to show the dispensability of people in this city," she said. "It does go to race and societal ranking."

She said it was hard to see Ardelean walk out of court, and said she didn't try to say anything to him as he left.

"It was difficult watching him walk out," she said. "There's no conscience, I don't believe he feels bad."

Erick Lagunas' mother, Maria Lagunas, uncle Mario Lagunas and cousin Victoria Lagunas, from left, talk to reporters after charges were dropped against Chicago Police Officer John Ardelean. (Michael Tercha/Chicago Tribune)

The Lagunas family said the family of Miguel Flores, the other man killed in the crash, declined to appear for the hearing, though they were told of the state's attorney's decision beforehand.

Prosecutors have said Ardelean, who was off duty, drank three beers and four shots at a River North bar just before the crash at Damen and Oakdale avenues that killed Lagunas, 21, and Flores, 22 about 2:50 a.m. Nov. 22, 2007.

According to published reports at the time, Ardelean was driving a Dodge Durango SUV northbound on Damen when a car slowed in front of him. He drove around that car, crossed the center lane and returned to the proper lane before broadsiding a westbound 2006 Pontiac Grand Am. Police said he was travelling about 60 mph at the time of the accident.

The Grand Am, driven by Lagunas, did not stop at a stop sign at Oakdale and Damen before accelerating in front of Ardelean's vehicle, which had the right of way, according to published reports. Prosecutors later said that according to witnesses, the driver of the Grand Am had also been drinking. According to a source, his blood alcohol level at the time of his autopsy was .074.

Officers who had been on the scene later testified they had no indication Ardelean was drunk at the scene.

A police supervisor at the district later ordered Ardelean to submit to a Breathalyzer, but Judge Thomas Gainer Jr. ruled in April that police had no probable cause to arrest and detain him, let along force him to take the test, which showed a blood alcohol level of .032, below the legal threshold of .08.

Gainer harshly criticized police Lt. John Magruder, who ordered Ardelean arrested a few hours after the crash, saying he had detected alcohol on his breath and noticed bloodshot eyes.

None of the four police officers at the crash scene -- or a responding Chicago Fire Department emergency medical technician -- reported noticing any sign that Ardelean was drunk.

The case has been on a legal roller coaster.

Ardelean initially was charged with misdemeanor drunken driving, but the charges were later upgraded to a felony, with prosecutors citing a video recording from the nightclub where Ardelean had been drinking.

The next month a judge dismissed the charges, not convinced by a prosecution expert who calculated that Ardelean's blood-alcohol level at the time of the crash would have been above the legal threshold. The Breathalyzer test administered eight hours after the crash showed Ardelean was well below that level at the time.

But three months later, following pressure from the families and some politicians, the state's attorney's office reopened the probe after the bar video was aired on television. The next month, Ardelean was charged with the counts that were dropped today.

--Matt Walberg and staff