Judge restores driver’s license for ex-Joliet city manager in DUI case

A judge restored the driver’s license for Joliet’s former city manager who admitted he lied to a police officer that he had nothing to drink before he was involved in a crash Oct. 3 but said he was not impaired to drive.

On Thursday, Will County Judge Sherri Hale granted a petition from James Capparelli’s attorney, Eugene Fimbianti, to rescind the summary statutory suspension of Capparelli’s driver’s license. Hale said she found Capparelli’s testimony Thursday to be credible and there were no other additional factors presented for her to consider.

Fimbianti petitioned to lift the suspension of Capparelli’s driver’s license because he deemed his client’s arrest was not done on reasonable grounds. He said Capparelli was also not properly warned by officers on what would happen to him if he refused chemical testing.

Capparelli was informed by the Illinois Secretary of State that his license would be suspended Nov. 18 because he was arrested on a driving under the influence charge and he refused to submit to chemical testing. Defendants typically challenge those suspensions early on in a DUI case.

Fimbianti had put Capparelli on the witness stand to testify about the events leading to his arrest. Capparelli also testified about his fear that the Joliet Police Department wanted to deliver “payback” because of his adversarial relationship with the department during his time as city manager.

A prosecutor did not call any witnesses. No videos of Capparelli’s arrest were played during the hearing.

On the stand, Capparelli described getting into a “fender bender” with the other driver on the evening of Oct. 3 on North Hickory Street, near Moran Street. He said he got outside of his vehicle to see if the other driver was OK and he dialed 911.

Capparelli said he was asked by the officer who eventually arrested him if he had anything to drink that night and he said no. However, Capparelli said in court Thursday that he did have an alcoholic beverage but he was not impaired to drive.

Capparelli said he saw so many officers on scene for a simple traffic incident and he was concerned the police department was going to deliver “payback” over his adversarial relationship with them during his time as city manager.

Capparelli mentioned he fired former Joliet Police Chief Dawn Malec, who filed a defamation lawsuit against him that is still pending in federal court. He also said he tried to reorganize the police department.

Capparelli said he didn’t want to submit to field sobriety tests because he is a disabled military veteran with a broken ankle, hip and shoulder. He said he also had issues with his hearing due to exposure to gunfire and explosions during his time in the military.

When a prosecutor asked Capparelli if he lied to a police officer on scene that he had nothing to drink, Capparelli said, “That’s correct.” He said he was “concerned” about himself during the incident.

Fimbianti had asked Capparelli to describe his relationship with the police department. Capparrelli said the relationship was “completely adversarial.”

“I felt intimidated and it felt like it was going to be pay back time,” Capparelli said.