Des Plaines Man With 16 DUIs Held Without Bond Over Latest Arrest

ROLLING MEADOWS, IL — A Des Plaines man with more than a dozen drunk driving convictions has been ordered held without bond Thursday after he was arrested and charged with driving with a revoked license and offering police a fake ID after he was pulled over last weekend.

Christoper Clingingsmith, 52, of the 1000 block of Arnold Court, was arrested March 17 in Arlington Heights. He's currently being held at Cook County Jail and faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted of his 16th DUI.

That charge is connected to his arrest last year after he allegedly crashed into a party bus in Des Plaines and fled before crashing into another vehicle on Northwest Highway in Arlington Heights, where he was arrested. He reportedly told police he had drank seven beers before getting behind the wheel that night.

A judge revoked his bond for the 2017 DUI charge at a hearing in Rolling Meadows after another set his bail at $1 million for the latest charges, Saying anyone with that many previous DUIs should be considered "very seriously dangerous," according to the Chicago Tribune.

Prosecutors they were still looking into precisely how many times Clingingsmith has been convicted of driving with a revoked license and DUI, as one was apparently overturned.

In his most recent arrest, prosecutors said Clingingsmith crashed into a traffic pole in the early morning hours of March 17 around White Oak Drive and New Wilke Road in Arlington Heights.

A witness noticed him slowly driving a black Cadillac SUV near the crime scene, according to the Daily Herald. Police pulled him over and he produced a fake driver's license.

Clingingsmith's defense attorney said that he had come to the scene to help his wife, who had been involved in the crash he's accused of fleeing, according to the paper. His lawyer said he was a heavy machine operator who has been in treatment for alcoholism for several months.

The earliest of Clingingsmith's 15 DUI convictions date back to 1982, prosecutors said, and he also reportedly has felony convictions related to drugs and fleeing police.

Clingingsmith is due back in court on April 13.