Wrong-Way Driver Charged With DUI: Riverside Police

RIVERSIDE, IL — A man was arrested Friday after a Riverside officer witnessed him going the wrong way in the northbound lanes of Woodside Road, which is divided by a grassy median, according to a police report. The officer stopped the man about 3 a.m. in front of Hauser Central Grade School in Riverside.

The man was identified as Bryan P. Melgoza, 31, of Lyons. He said he had been coming from a bar and trying to get home, according to the report. He had receipts from three separate bars and had been drinking beers and shots of tequila, police said.

When he approached the car, the officer could immediately smell a strong odor of alcohol from the driver, the police report said. Police said he failed all testing, with his blood-alcohol level twice the legal limit at .16.

Melgoza was accused of two counts of drunken driving, driving in the wrong lane, no insurance and driving with open alcohol.

The man's wife, who was in the car, said they had three small children at home and that she needed to get home to take care of them, the report said. Police were able to make that happen. An adult was watching over the children.

"The squad car video shows Mr. Melgoza driving in the wrong lane on a divided roadway and just how dangerous this could have been," Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel said in a statement. "The officer had to take evasive moves to get into the opposite lane just to be able to stop the vehicle. I am truly thankful that he nor anyone else were seriously injured or killed."