Chicago Area Local News

CHICAGO (CBS) ― A woman was charged with drunk driving Thursday, more than two months after allegedly causing a fatal accident on the North Side.

The case also sparked a lawsuit by a nurse at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, who said she was handcuffed and escorted to a police squad car after refusing to give the driver a blood test to check her blood alcohol level.

Cook County prosecutors have charged Raquel Wright, 47, with one count of aggravated DUI causing accidental death. Bond was set at $50,000 Thursday and her next court appearance was set for Nov. 4.

The wreck occurred Aug. 1 at 3:05 a.m. the intersection of Ashland and Wilson avenues, according to court documents. Wright was driving south on Ashland Avenue and turned onto Wilson, striking 24-year-old Alex Foamete, who was riding a motorcycle along Wilson. Foamete had the right of way, according to court documents.

He was thrown from his motorcycle upon impact and taken to Illinois Masonic, where he remained on life support until Aug. 7, when he died from his injuries.

When officers responded to the crash, they approached Wright and asked her what happened, police said. She allegedly told officers that she didn't see the motorcycle and didn't know from where it had come.

Officers allegedly noticed a moderate odor of alcohol on Wright's breath and she allegedly had glassy eyes. Officers asked her how much she had to drink and she said she had some wine, according to police.

A motorist who told officers she was driving behind Wright told officers Wright was swerving from side to side.

Officers performed the "finger to nose" field sobriety test, which she failed, but she refused all other tests, according to court documents.

She then was taken to Illinois Masonic where a DUI kit was performed on her and her blood was drawn by nurse Glenda Frisby at 7:37 a.m. Authorities consulted a forensic expert who was able to extrapolate that, based on the test several hours after the crash, her blood alcohol level at the time of the crash was .084, above the legal limit.

CBS 2 News reported that prosecutors originally withdrew DUI charges against Wright because by the time a blood test was performed, Wright's blood alcohol content was far below the legal limit for intoxication.

It was not until a forensic expert later was able to recalculate Wright's blood alcohol content at the time of the crash -- based on her height, body weight and BAC when the test was taken -- that authorities determined she was indeed drunk at the time of the crash.

The apparent reason for the delay in getting a blood test was that another nurse refused to draw Wright's blood until police filled out the proper paperwork.

Lisa Hofstra , 27, was the overnight nurse in charge of the emergency department at the time of the incident. Hofstra claimed in a lawsuit against Chicago police that she told a police officer he'd have to follow normal procedures to get Wright's blood drawn for a DUI test.

Hofstra and her attorneys claimed the officer – identified in the lawsuit as "Officer Rodriguez" – "ran amok" and placed Hofstra under arrest.

"He snuck up behind me, grabbed my arms. I didn't even realize what was happening. I just saw the faces of the people in front of me before I even realized I was in handcuffs," Hofstra said when she filed her lawsuit last month.

A spokeswoman for Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center had no comment on that incident. Another hospital source generally supported Hofstra's story. So did surveillance video recordings obtained by her lawyers.

The officer can be seen on surveillance video as he marched Hofstra out of the crowded ER. Later, she was finally allowed to get out of a police squad car and to have the cuffs removed.

Hofstra said her lawsuit is less about the money she may win and more about standing up for emergency care nurses in busy, urban hospitals.

"We work hard. We get abused. We get yelled at. We get, you know, beat up," Hofstra said. "And to have a police officer treat an emergency room nurse that way goes against so many things. I would like this officer to be reprimanded for doing this. I don't like the thought of him being on the street."

As of last month, Officer Rodriguez remained on the job, said a police spokesman. He would not say where.

The Independent Police Review Authority said it is investigating the incident. Guidelines call for them to complete their work within six months, or publicly explain why they're taking so long.

The incident at Illinois Masonic was similar to two other confrontations this year in Downstate Jacksonville and in Winnebago County.

"Lack of cooperation with law enforcement regarding the blood draws. That is a common, routine thing, not just in the Chicago area, but throughout the state and, probably quite frankly, across the county, said Elizabeth Earleywine, traffic safety resource prosecutor at the Illinois Department of Transportation. "Winnebago County, approximately a year ago, had the same situation come up, where they threatened to arrest one of the nurses if they didn't take a blood test."

Current Illinois law does not require hospitals to perform blood testing on DUI suspects. Mothers Against Drunk Driving said that a new state law is needed, one that would compel medical personnel to conduct such tests promptly.

"The hospitals do not want the police bringing drunks to the emergency room. They've got to deal with already." MADD executive director Susan McKeigue said. "A drunk driver can go scot-free without any evidence to convict him."

Friends and family who still mourned 24-year-old Alex Foamete noted that his blood was drawn immediately when he arrived at the emergency room virtually brain-dead. They said they wish the driver who killed him had faced the same treatment.

"It's just about justice," Vasile said.

Earleywine said she would like to see police officers, hospital workers and other stakeholders get together to reach a compromise. Meantime, MADD planned to lobby in Springfield to change state law to force emergency room personnel to draw the blood of suspected drunk drivers.

CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

Editor's Picks

• Gay Celebrities
• Did You Know? Stars From Chicago!
• Celebs Who Lean To The Right
• Real Or Fake?