Tinley Park Man Charged in Eighth DUI

A Tinley Park man who has not held a valid driver's license since 1992 has been arrested an eighth time for driving drunk, police said.

Donald Angellotti, 42, 18448 Zurich Lane, was arrested early Saturday by Olympia Fields police who said they saw his truck swerving down Vollmer Road.

He is charged with drunken driving and driving with a revoked license, police said.

That is the eighth time since 1991 he's been arrested for drunken driving, authorities said. Before his arrest last week, Angellotti's most recent arrest had been in 2000, they said. His license was revoked in 1992, after his second DUI arrest.

After each ensuing arrest, the revocation of his license was extended, authorities said. A revoked license means you can't legally drive a vehicle.

The most serious punishment Angellotti received was a 24-month probationary period after his sixth DUI conviction. He passed that successfully, only to be arrested for drunken driving a few months later.

Ruth Riley, of the Illinois secretary of state's office, said Angellotti has not held a valid driver's license since 1992.

"He's been convicted of driving drunk seven times. Every time (since the second), the revocation is extended," Riley said.

He was arrested for driving drunk in 1991 in DeKalb County and in 1992 and 1994 in Kane County, Riley said.

Angellotti has had four DUI arrests in Cook County - once in 1996, two in 1997 and one in 2000.

When asked how Angellotti could still be driving and why no convictions resulted in more serious punishment, Andy Conklin, spokesman for the Cook County state's attorney's office, declined comment.

After each arrest, Angellotti refused to take a breath test, Riley said, but he was found guilty each time.

And although he's not held a license in 18 years, that has not stopped Angellotti from driving, officials said.

That did not surprise a police detective.

"They do it all the time. They look at it as a 50-50 shot if they get stopped," Olympia Fields Detective Mark Akiyama said of drivers whose licenses have been revoked.

Angellotti's latest arrest was at 2:20 a.m. Saturday at Vollmer Road and Western Avenue.

Olympia Fields police were tipped off about an allegedly drunk en driver heading east on Vollmer Road from Tinley Park's Odyssey Country Club.

A Ford truck was "all over the place," an anonymous caller told police.

Police saw the truck turn south on Western Avenue from Vollmer Road and pulled it over, police said.

Police detected a strong odor of alcohol coming from Angellotti, police said.

According to the police report, Angellotti said he had not had any drinks. He told police he was driving home, although he was heading in the opposite direction.

After he failed each field sobriety test Angellotti was arrested and charged, police said. Olympia Fields police pride themselves on their DUI arrests.

"To be honest, our guys on midnights are a top-notch crew," Akiyama said.

On Thursday, Angellotti told the SouthtownStar he wasn't driving drunk.

"I wasn't drinking," he said. "You're going to destroy my life if you run this. Don't I get my day in court?"

His court date is July 6 in Markham.

"I'm dealing with a lot of things. My mom's dying of cancer. I really would appreciate it if you didn't run this," Angellotti said.

He did not give his attorney's name and declined further comment.

Angellotti was driving a Ford truck with a license plate that is registered to a woman at the same Tinley Park address, Riley said.

Rita Kreslin thinks drivers with multiple DUI convictions are "a menace to our society."

Deputy director for the Schaumburg-based Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists, Kreslin said such stories are not unique.

"It's more prevalent than you think. Just because you don't have a license doesn't mean you can't get behind the wheel of a car," Kreslin said. People with revoked licenses "get braver and braver if they aren't caught," she said.

"A lot of times, unfortunately, they don't get thrown in jail until they kill someone," Kreslin said.