An off-duty Chicago police officer was legally drunk when he allegedly hit and killed a 13-year-old boy on his bike 31 months ago, a toxicologist testified Friday.
Jennifer Bash, a forensic toxicologist with the Illinois State Police, estimated that Richard Bolling’s blood-alcohol content at the time of the May 22, 2009 crash was as much as twice the state's legal limit of .08 percent, the Chicago Tribune reported.
When Bolling, now 42, was finally given a Breathalyzer test four hours after his arrest, he registered a .079.
Bash has pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated DUI, reckless homicide, and leaving the scene of a fatal accident in connection with the crash that killed Trenton Booker. Booker was on his bike when he was struck while riding his bike near 81st and Ashland.
Officers who arrested Bolling said they noticed a "moderate odor" of alcohol on Bolling’s breath and indicated that he "did not seem to be impaired" after he performed the standard field sobriety test, the police report stated.
But in court this week, Bolling is heard on audio recorded from the back of a squad car yelling at himself, complaining about the damage to his car and rambling about the fast food chicken and fries he'd left in his vehicle.
"Please don’t eat my White Castles," Bolling said on tape as officers investigated the crash, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. "I’m hungry."
The arresting officer this week changed his mind and now said he believes Bolling was drunk at the time of the crash.
Bolling's defense attorney said his client, a married father of two, was not impaired and cooperated with all of his colleagues' instructions and never asked for any special favors.
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