JOLIET, IL — As part of our commitment to provide you with the most complete Joliet area news coverage, Joliet Patch will be bringing you more body camera videos from some of Joliet Police Department arrests we've covered.
The following body camera video, obtained from a Joliet Police Department Freedom of Information Act request, pertains to the Aug. 16 arrest of 44-year-old Joliet resident Frederick Lamar Caldwell. Joliet police said that a 72-year-old motorcyclist suffered life-threatening injuries at 4;01 p.m. when Caldwell switched lanes, hit the motorcycle and then drove over the man as he lay in the roadway at the intersection of South Chicago Street and Fifth Avenue.
"I've got to be honest with you, the Horizontal gaze nystagmus test, I saw a lot of movement in your eyes," Joliet Police Officer Micah Robertson told Caldwell at 4;38 p.m. that day, according to body camera video. "So, be honest with me, did you drink, today?"
"Earlier today," Caldwell replied.
"Was it the vodka that was in the (vehicle)?"
"No."
"It was a beer, Old Milwaukee," Caldwell responded. "About 11 o'clock in the morning. It was a tallboy."
When Officer Robertson revealed the other man inside their car already told Joliet police Caldwell was drinking from the pint of vodka inside the car, Caldwell responded, "I don't know why he would say that. Well, maybe he meant that everybody was drinking out of it. But no, I wasn't, because I was sleeping."
Caldwell agreed to undergo a series of field-sobriety tests that the Joliet police performed near the crash site, inside the Milano's Bakery parking lot.
Afterward, Officer Robertson informed him, "right now, it's showing me you're impaired."
"OK," Caldwell remarked.
"Would you be willing to do a breath test?"
"No," Caldwell told him. "That's why I'm not going through the breath test because I drunk at 11 o'clock. It still might be on my breath."
At that moment, another Joliet police officer put him handcuffs and he was cooperative.
Now, 15 days later, Caldwell remains in the Will County Jail, being detained under the SAFE-T-Act in connection with charges of aggravated DUI resulting in great bodily injury. At the time of his arrest, Caldwell told Joliet police he had been arrested for DUI in the past.
Sign up for free local newsletters and alerts for the
Joliet Patch
Patch.com is the nationwide leader in hyperlocal news.
Visit Patch.com to find your town today.