Matteson Woman Blames Weight Loss for DUI: Cops

A Matteson woman told police she blamed her DUI arrest during a March 8 traffic stop on recently losing more than 50 pounds, according to a Flossmoor police report.

Wilma Smith, 59, of the 6400 block of Blue Sky Lane, Matteson, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence and driving with a blood-alcohol content over the legal limit, the report stated.

Police pulled over Smith at about 12:45 a.m., in the 3000 block of Flossmoor Road after receiving a complaint that of a gray Nissan Versa being erratically driven northbound on Governors Highway from Vollmer Road, the report stated. When the officer was talking with Smith, he noticed that she was slurring her speech and could smell a strong odor of alcohol coming from inside the car, the report added.

Smith told the officer she had only had glass of wine that evening, but when she was asked to exit her car to see if she was sober enough to drive home, Smith had difficulty finding the door handle, saying the car was a rental, the report stated. The officer had to unlock through the open window for Smith, who appeared to lose her balance as she got out of the front seat, the report added.

Smith failed field sobriety tests, and a breath test conducted at the scene registered a 0.161 blood-alcohol content, the report stated. The legal limit for a BAC is 0.08. At the station, Smith took another breath test, and her BAC registered 0.150, the report added.

While in custody, Smith told police that she had had two glasses of wine between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. However, she recently had lost 70 pounda, and because of that weight loss, “alcohol has a more intense effect,” she told police.

Smith had a passenger with her during the arrest, but she was not charged or cited during the stop.