Former Drunk Crossing Guard Gets DUI in Naperville: Report

A former crossing guard with the Warrenville Police Department who reportedly helped 12 kids cross the street while she was drunk has been charged with driving under the influence.

Pamela L. Eklund, 64, of the 3S600 block of Curtis Avenue in unincorporated DuPage County, has been charged with two counts of driving under the influence, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Eklund was arrested March 8 in the 600 block of North River Road in Naperville after a patrol officer found her in the driver’s seat of her vehicle trying to start it, according to the Tribune. The officer also detected an alcohol odor on her breath. Eklund reportedly had a blood-alcohol content of .25, more than three times the legal limit.

In May 2010, Eklund was arrested for helping 12 kids in a walk-a-thon cross Warrenville Road while she was drunk, according to the Tribune.

“Eklund denied she had been drinking or having driven to the area while drunk, although the officer wrote he ‘could smell vodka on her,’ and that her eyes were bloodshot,” the Tribune wrote, citing a police report. “She refused to take a breath test, and ‘almost tripped up the curb’ and had to be ‘helped … to keep from falling’ in the lot during the interview process.”

Originally charged with driving under the influence and endangering the health or life of a child, the DUI was later amended to reckless driving, according to the Tribune. She pleaded guilty to both charges.

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