{"id":303122,"date":"2010-02-10T16:10:07","date_gmt":"2010-02-10T21:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chicagopressrelease.com\/?p=17543"},"modified":"2010-02-10T16:10:07","modified_gmt":"2010-02-10T21:10:07","slug":"chelios-can-keep-license-for-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/303122","title":{"rendered":"Chelios can keep license for now"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Battling a drunk-driving charge, ex-Chicago Blackhawks star Chris Chelios won a key legal victory Wednesday when a DuPage County judge ruled police didn\u2019t have probable cause to arrest him.<\/p>\n

The decision by Judge Cary Pierce came after he viewed a 15-minute police videotape showing the Dec. 28 traffic stop and sobriety tests that led to Chelios\u2019 arrest.<\/p>\n

The ruling clears the way for Chelios to formally request the DUI charge be tossed out \u2014 a request his attorney expects will be granted. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe case is over,\u201d defense attorney Terry Ekl said. \u201cThis video is as clearcut as possible that he was not impaired by alcohol.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chelios, 48, was curbed about 4 a.m. by Westmont police as he returned to his parents\u2019 home, where he is living while he plays for the Chicago Wolves of the International Hockey League.<\/p>\n

Questioned by the officer in an exchange captured on the squad car\u2019s video camera, Chelios initially admitted he had \u201ca couple\u201d drinks, but didn\u2019t offer any specifics.<\/p>\n

He was stopped for allegedly weaving as he drove his pickup truck, then asked to perform several sobriety tests, including balancing on one leg and walking in a straight line.<\/p>\n

On the videotape played in court, Chelios swayed slightly as he walked.<\/p>\n

At one point during the balancing test, he put his foot down \u2014 though Ekl contended the 10 knee operations Chelios has undergone during his hockey career were responsible for the bobble.<\/p>\n

At one point, Chelios asks if he can leave the truck and walk to his parents\u2019 house, which was about a block from where he was stopped.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan\u2019t you just let me go home, please? I\u2019m safe. I\u2019m not a danger,\u201d he asked on the tape — a request the officer quickly refused.<\/p>\n

After viewing the tape, Pierce ruled police didn\u2019t have probable cause to arrest Chelios.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s got to be probable cause to go forth,\u201d Pierce told prosecutor William Opal. \u201cI think you\u2019re just a little short in this case.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ruling came in a preliminary hearing to determine whether Chelios\u2019 drivers license would be suspended for a year because of his arrest.<\/p>\n

The decision means Chelios won\u2019t have to surrender his license \u2014 unless he ultimately is convicted of the DUI.<\/p>\n

After the hearing, Chelios said he was pleased by the ruling and wouldn\u2019t drive while impaired.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand the seriousness of this,\u201d Chelios said. \u201cI try to be a good driver.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read the original article from FOX Chicago News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services<\/a><\/p>\n

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Battling a drunk-driving charge, ex-Chicago Blackhawks star Chris Chelios won a key legal victory Wednesday when a DuPage County judge ruled police didn\u2019t have probable cause to arrest him. The decision by Judge Cary Pierce came after he viewed a 15-minute police videotape showing the Dec. 28 traffic stop and sobriety tests that led to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-303122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303122\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}