Rock Falls man sentenced to 6 years for Dixon DUI that injured 6 people

DIXON – A Rock Falls man who injured himself and five others in a four-vehicle crash while drunk and running from Dixon police Dec. 5 pleaded guilty Thursday to aggravated driving under the influence, three or more convictions, and was sentenced to six years with no credit for time served.

Nine other charges filed against Ryan Lee Charleston, 41, who was has been held in the Lee County jail since his arrest, were dismissed per a plea agreement. The court also has recommended that he receive substance abuse treatment.

Charleston also has a pending case in Whiteside County, where he was charged Oct. 25, 2022, with driving on a revoked license and misdemeanor fleeing Sept. 4, 2022. He has not appeared in that case.

According to a news release from Dixon police after the DUI, officers tried to stop Charleston after receiving a 911 call at 4:37 p.m. reporting a reckless, erratic driver coming into Dixon on Route 2 from Grand Detour.

Charleston’s SUV was spotted in the 1300 block of North Galena Avenue heading north. It turned onto Liberty Court and drove off the pavement and onto the grass, going around the south side of the Freedom Walk apartment complex.

An officer activated his emergency lights, but the SUV did not stop and instead got back on Galena and headed south. The officer broke off the attempted traffic stop.

The SUV was speeding in the 1300 block when it drove into the northbound lanes and collided with a vehicle turning south onto Galena from North Court. Two other vehicles were struck as a result of that initial collision.

Charleston and five other people were treated at KSB Hospital for serious but not life-threatening injuries, according to the release.

He was charged the next day with three counts of aggravated DUI, three counts of aggravated fleeing, driving on a revoked license and aggravated reckless driving causing bodily harm, all felonies, as well as two counts of speeding more than 35 mph over the posted limit.

He has a previous local criminal history as well.

Charleston was sentenced in Whiteside County on July 25, 2018, to 2½ years of probation for driving on a revoked license and Nov. 20, 2018, to three years in prison for aggravated battery causing great bodily harm.

He beat a Walmart employee with a blunt object so severely that the employee was hospitalized, police said.

On May 26, 2009, he was sentenced to two years in prison for driving on a revoked license revoked, and Dec. 12, 2006, to two years, again for aggravated battery causing great bodily harm.

On March 28, 2006, Charleston was sentenced to 2½ years of probation for aggravated battery causing great bodily harm. Two counts of aggravated battery in a public place were dismissed per a plea agreement.

His probation was revoked, and he was sentenced to two years in the Department of Corrections on Dec. 12, 2006.

On Sept. 27, 2001, he got two years for dealing 30 to 500 grams of marijuana, and on Dec. 28, 2000, he received 2½ years of probation for dealing and possessing 30 to 500 grams of marijuana.

Charleston also was convicted July 12, 2007, in Lee County of aggravated battery to a police officer and sentenced to three years in the Department of Corrections.