Fiery Crash Leads To DUI: Riverside Cops

RIVERSIDE, IL — A Cicero man was arrested for drunk driving after he crashed his car into a landscape structure and the vehicle caught on fire. Christopher Coss, 22, of Cicero, was charged with two counts of drunk driving, possession of cannabis, improper operation of a motor vehicle and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.

Riverside Police received calls at 10:20 p.m. Sunday reporting a single vehicle accident at Woodside and Park Place. Police were told by the multiple callers that the car was on fire.

Police said they arrived on the scene to see a vehicle had left the road and struck a landscape structure at the corner of Kimbark and Park Place. The vehicle was smoking, its engine still revving and its tires spinning. The driver, now identified as Coss, was still in the car and ordered out of the vehicle.

Fire personnel and paramedics responded to the scene. According to police, when an officer was speaking to Coss, he smelled a strong odor of alcohol on his breath and he seemed severely impaired. Coss failed roadside sobriety testing for both drugs and alcohol.

Riverside Police also recovered cannabis from the backpack that the driver had in his possession. Coss was treated by paramedics at the scene but refused any medical treatment. Once in police custody at the station, Coss was administered the breath test and he blew a .16, which is over the legal limit of .08.

This intersection is notorious for crashes. Police Chief Thomas Weitzel said there have been six crashes in the past three years — four of them caused by drunk driving.

"I will be reviewing, along with the Village, what steps could be taken to increase safety at this intersection," Weitzel said in a release.

Photos provided by Riverside Police Department.