Posted by chicagomedia.org on June 20, 2008 at 09:26:14:
In Reply to: Walter Jacobson Accused Of Driving Drunk (new) posted by chicagomedia.org on June 19, 2008 at 14:41:46:
Walter Jacobson charged with DUI
Former Fox news anchor and Chicago Journalism Hall of Fame member Walter Jacobson struck a parked car before he was arrested on drunken driving charges Wednesday night in Lincoln Park, police said.
Jacobson, 70, failed a field sobriety test and was taken to a police station where a Breathalyzer showed his blood-alcohol level at .092 - above the legal driving limit of .08, police said.
He was in a 2004 Saab, the same vehicle he was in when he was arrested for driving under the influence in 2004.
Police said a woman called 911 about 10:45 p.m. to say a car struck a parked car and was swerving.
The caller's description of the driver, as well as the car and the license plate, matched Jacobson and his Saab, police said.
Police arrested Jacobson in an alley in the 2100 block of North Cleveland about 11 p.m.
Jacobson denied being involved in a traffic accident or hitting any parked cars and exhibited a moderate odor of alcohol, and appeared to be slightly confused, according to a police report.
The Saab's front right wheel was damaged and the car was deemed unsafe to drive, police said. Jacobson was charged with a misdemeanor DUI.
Reached at home Thursday, Jacobson had no immediate comment.
Jacobson, a former news anchor for WFLD-Channel 32 news, was sentenced to four months' supervision and given a $450 fine after being arrested for drunken driving in May 2004.
The charges were reduced to negligent driving, obstruction of traffic and running a stop sign after Jacobson agreed to plead guilty and undergo evaluation for his use of alcohol.
In the 2004 incident, Jacobson was arrested in the early hours of May 8 near his Lincoln Park home.
Earlier that night, he had attended a black-tie fund-raiser and had stopped for pizza at a neighborhood counter.
Police said they observed him get into his 2004 Saab - double-parked near the Lincoln Avenue restaurant - and drive through a stop sign. When they administered a field sobriety test, police reported, he lost his balance and stumbled.
He had told police he'd had "a glass and a half" of wine at the fund-raiser, but insisted to friends he was not drunk. A Breathalyzer test showed his alcohol level was just under the legal standard of intoxication at .078.
Jacobson appeared in court on that case just four days before his induction into the Chicago Journalism Hall of Fame.
(Sun-Times)