Burr Ridge deputy police chief suspended after DUI arrest in Virginia, refusal to take breathalyzer test – Chicago Tribune

Burr Ridge Deputy Police Chief Ryan Husarik is on unpaid leave until July 26 after being arrested for drunken driving in Dumfries, Virginia, earlier this year.

Husarik was in Virginia to attend a free FBI training course. After his arrest, he left the course, according to a news release from Burr Ridge police.

The deputy police chief, who has worked for the department for 19 years, was suspended for 40 days without pay on June 3 after he was arrested shortly after 6:30 p.m. on April 13 after he tested .207 on a preliminary breathalyzer test. The result allowed a Virginia state trooper to arrest him but cannot be used in court. The legal limit is .08.

According to Burr Ridge police, Husarik is also under internal investigation and is under a 48-month “last chance agreement.”

The agency’s press release notes that the internal investigation and its outcome have nothing to do with the DUI charges in Virginia, but that the agency will keep an eye on the court proceedings there.

“We will continue to monitor the progress of the case in Virginia and will address any sanctions that may arise as they become known,” the press release said.

According to the Virginia police officer’s arrest report, the Burr Ridge Deputy Police Chief was reported for dangerous driving by a civilian, and the officer also noticed Husarik’s dark blue Ford Explorer, which had an Indiana license plate reading 233CYL. The officer noticed that the car was obviously a police car, and he reportedly saw it swerve into the oncoming lane before he was able to pull the Deputy Police Chief over.

Husarik was driving a police vehicle in Burr Ridge and had a rifle, two empty small travel bottles of vodka and four regular-sized bottles elsewhere in the vehicle — two Evan Williams bourbon and a bottle of New Amsterdam vodka and a bottle of wine — all half empty, as well as an innumerable number of other individual travel-sized bottles of alcohol, the report said. The rifle was locked in the car with the alcohol.

According to the report, Husarik told the officer that he was on his way back from a casino and was drinking there when he got lost.

Husarik allegedly told the officer that he was on his way back to FBI headquarters in Quantico, 10 miles from Dumfries, and that he had already been in Quantico for two weeks.

The officer reported that the vehicle smelled of alcohol and that Husarik was difficult to understand and had trouble speaking.

According to the officer’s report, Husarik also failed a breathalyzer test and refused to take an official breathalyzer test that could be used in court. In Virginia — and in Illinois — refusing to submit to a breathalyzer test results in a one-year driver’s license suspension, though it’s unclear whether Burr Ridge Police Chief John Madden will allow Husarik to drive a patrol vehicle after his suspension or how the DUI cases will play out. Neither Madden nor village officials would comment, and they also declined to say whether Husarik will need to seek treatment for alcohol abuse. The police department also would not clarify why Husarik was riding in a Burr Ridge police car with Indiana plates.

He was charged with drunken driving and refusal to take a breathalyzer test. In both Illinois and Virginia, it is illegal to carry a concealed firearm while intoxicated, and for civilians, a conviction would result in the revocation of a permit to carry a concealed firearm, although Husarik was not charged with those offenses.

Jesse Wright is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.