By Karoun Demirjian
The Chicago Tribune
COOK COUNTY — The Cook County state’s attorney’s office may reopen an investigation of an off-duty Chicago police officer accused of drunken driving in a Thanksgiving crash that killed two young Cicero men on the North Side, officials said Friday.
Officer John Ardelean was charged with two felony counts of aggravated DUI — upgraded from initial misdemeanor charges — in the car crash that killed Miguel Flores, 22, and Erick Lagunas, 21.
A Cook County judge last Friday dismissed the charges against the officer after witnesses testified at his hearing that they didn’t believe he was drunk. The case’s quick dismissal drew strong criticism from the victims’ families, who with the support of several prominent lawmakers, have spent the last week urging the state’s attorney’s office to reconsider the decision. A lawyer for the victims’ families said a Thursday afternoon meeting with Bob Milan, the top assistant to State’s Atty. Richard Devine, indicated the case may be reopened.
“They’re going to actually look at it,” said Daniel O’Connor, an attorney for the victims’ families, calling the change in the office’s stance “dramatic.”
A spokesman for the state’s attorney confirmed that Milan had agreed to re-examine the evidence and inform the families by next week whether or not a grand jury review of Ardelean’s case would follow.
“Before they were telling me that I didn’t have any options,” said Nancy Flores, 27, the sister of one of the victims. “Now, I have options again.”
Copyright 2008 Chicago Tribune