12th DUI For Joliet Motorist Who Crashed Near Lockport, 2 1/2 Times Legal Limit: Will Co. Prosecutors Reveal

WILMINGTON, IL — Ronald Meimers, a 62-year-old Joliet man with a long history of domestic violence and 11 prior drunken driving convictions in his life, is back in the Will County Jail facing three crimes of aggravated driving under the influence, court documents show.

At the end of last week, the Will County State's Attorney's Office filed its latest criminal complaint against Meimers. He was subsequently captured by the Joliet Police Department on Friday evening and booked into the Will County Jail.

According to the petition to deny pretrial release, on Friday May 22, around 9 p.m., Will County Sheriff's police received a 911 call from a 29-year-old resident of the 16300 block of South John Court in unincorporated Lockport Township. The person reported that a Ford Focus had been driven erratically and wound up stuck on a rock in his nearby neighbor's front yard.

The driver exited the stuck vehicle and began to walk away. Will County Sheriff's Deputy Heitfleisch was close by and arrived on the scene. He saw the stuck Focus with fresh damage. Heitfleisch then followed the path to find the motorist, and another homeowner showed him Ring footage. Heitfleisch then found the person, which was the defendant.

Prosecutors noted that Meimers advised the sheriff's deputy he was OK from the accident. Heitfleisch later learned that Meimers had a revoked driver's license and showed other classic symptoms of alcohol use. The defendant agreed that the reason for the crash was because he was drinking. The defendant agreed to take field sobriety tests, which results indicated impairment, court records reflect.

He was given a breath test 10:15 p.m. That result was 0.206, two and one half times the legal limit, prosecutors noted.

"On the date of this 12th DUI offense, this defendant was on pretrial release in Will County case 2026 CF 762," prosecutors indicated. "One condition of that order is that defendant not violate any criminal statute of any jurisdiction.'"

On the night of the incident near Lockport, Meimers was given a notice to appear in court. However, in the coming days, prior to his June 12 court date, "he was discovered to be in Shawnee County Texas, from which jurisdiction he is being extradited for a warrant in 2026 CF 762," prosecutors indicated. "A second condition of that order is that defendant 'Not leave the State of Illinois without the permission of the Court.'

"The defendant's double-digit history of DUI's and continued such behavior despite three separate visits to reception at the Illinois Department Of Corrections presents an ongoing and uncontrolled danger to the public," the petition to deny pretrial release argued.