March 20--A Woodridge man is facing several charges after police said he drove on sidewalks and through front yards before striking a landscape retaining wall in west suburban Riverside.
Joseph T. Whetter, 28, of the 3400 block of 83rd Street in Woodridge was charged with misdemeanor driving under the influence, failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident and failure to report an accident.
Whetter also was cited with driving on a sidewalk, improper lane usage, damage to village property and possession of cannabis, according to a release from the Riverside Police Department.
Shortly before 2 a.m. Saturday, calls poured in about a vehicle driving on a sidewalk and parkway in front of houses on Kimbark Road from Park Place. When an officer got to the scene he saw damage and eventually spotted the car in the 0 to 100 block of Forest Avenue with the front tires blown out, the release said.
When officers approached Whetter and asked him to step out of the vehicle, he fell to the roadway. Officers, who said they smelled alcohol, tried to give Whetter a sobriety test, but he kept falling down, the release said. Officers then helped him into a squad car and arrested him for DUI.
An investigation revealed Whetter had struck a landscaping retaining wall at 63rd and Kimbark, then bounced back on the road where he then drove on the parkway and struck several bushes, the release said,
Later, at the police station, Whetter's breath test registered at .163, officials said.
During an interview, Whetter told police he thought he was driving on North Avenue at Harlem Avenue in Oak Park. Police said he was about seven miles north of the believed location.
