Driver ‘bouncing off curbs’ charged with DUI in Riverside

An Aurora man was charged March 18 with driving under the influence of alcohol after driving erratically in Riverside, police said.

Police received a 911 call about 8 p.m. from a motorist following an alleged drunken driver from First and Forest avenues. The caller said the car was all over the roadway and bouncing off the curbs, police said.

Police caught up to the vehicle on East Burlington Street at the Burlington Northern Railroad crossing in downtown Riverside. The car continued south to cross the tracks and then entered the residential neighborhoods near Scottswood Road.

Police observed the car driving all over the roadway and the driver hitting curbs. At one point, the driver drove on the parkway in the 100 block of Scottswood Road, where an officer pulled the car over, police said.

The officer approached the vehicle, asked the driver for his license and immediately smelled a strong odor of alcohol from the driver’s breath, police said.

The driver, Ulises Guzman, 29, of the 300 block of Superior Avenue, Aurora, was asked to exit the vehicle and perform roadside field sobriety tests for DUI, police said. He failed the tests and was arrested on DUI charges, police said.

Guzman later told police that he believed he was on Indian Trails Road in Aurora when he was stopped.

In December 2020, Guzman was arrested for DUI by Streamwood police and that DUI is pending. Police found Guzman’s temporary visitor’s driver’s license was suspended for that DUI arrest.

Riverside police charged Guzman with felony aggravated drunken driving and numerous other traffic citations.

“Mr. Guzman was highly intoxicated, driving in a residential neighborhood some 30 miles from his home, where he thought he was, when stopped by Riverside police. Mr. Guzman did state that he had been drinking the entire day and was drinking beer when stopped by Riverside for drunk driving,” Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel said in a statement.