Too Many DUIs: Joliet Township Supervisor's Political Career Ends

JOLIET — The Joliet Township Board of Supervisors has a special meeting on Tuesday evening's agenda to discuss replacing Angel Contreras as the township supervisor. The voters of Joliet Township put Contreras, a rising star in the Will County Democratic Party, in office in December 2020, by defeating long-time incumbent Dan Vera.

However, Contreras' political career self-destructed as the result of his inability to overcome his recurring problems of drinking and driving, more specifically, driving without a valid Illinois driver's license after he consumed too much alcohol while out on the town.

On Friday, after more than two entire years of prolonged pretrial filings, Contreras admitted he is a repeat drunken driver, and had no business driving a motor vehicle at the time of his latest alcohol crime, on Joliet's west side, during the wee hours of the morning, on Father's Day weekend of June 2022.

On Friday, Contreras pleaded guilty to his first felony DUI in Joliet, aggravated DUI. He also pleaded guilty to another felony offense involving driving on a suspended/revoked license. Will County prosecutors noted that Contreras was given a standard sentence: two years of probation, 480 hours of community service, and he must participate in a victim impact panel. Contreras does not have to serve any more jail time than what he already did in 2022.

His resignation as a Joliet Township's elected official was not a stipulation in order to obtain the guilty plea, Will County prosecutors informed Patch.

However, now that Contreras' criminal matters have been resolved at the Will County Courthouse in the Courtroom of Judge Carmen Goodman, Contreras is now the holder of a DUI conviction in at least three different Midwestern states.

Iowa and Indiana, are his others.

According to the agenda for the 5 p.m. Tuesday special meeting of the Joliet Township board of supervisors:

• ADOPT/Resolution No. 2024-02 Declaring Vacancy, Township Supervisor
• Motion to accept resignation of Angel Contreras as Joliet Township Supervisor
• ADOPT/Resolution No. 2024-03 to Appoint a New Township Supervisor
• Motion to appoint Alicia Morales as Joliet Township Supervisor
• ADOPT/Resolution No. 2024-04 Declaring Vacancy, Town Clerk
• Motion to accept resignation of Alicia Morales as Joliet Township Clerk

According to the criminal complaint, on June 19, 2022, a Joliet police officer on overnight patrol saw the Honda Ridgeline pickup truck heading northbound on Raynor Avenue "without any of its lights illuminated. Officer (Ken) Macejak observed the Honda drive over the marked lane divider."

Eventually, Contreras turned eastbound on Western Avenue "and traveled in both the eastbound and westbound lanes of traffic with the center of the vehicle traveling over the marked double yellow lane lines for several feet," court records show.

When the Joliet officer turned on his squad car's sirens and flashing lights, Contreras "struck and drove up on the curb with the vehicle's front passenger tire."

Contreras was asked for his driver's license, but he does not have one.

"Angel Contreras provided an Illinois State Identification card and stated that his driver's was revoked," court records show.

According to Joliet police, Contreras' eyes were bloodshot and glassy, his movements slow and deliberate. The Joliet Township Supervisor was lethargic, and his speech was slurred.

The Joliet officer ran Contreras' name through his registration database and learned that Contreras had a revoked driver's license in Illinois. Contreras also has prior DUI convictions from Indiana and Iowa.

"Contreras stated he had four drinks at the end of the night. Officer Macejak offered Contreras to perform ... sobriety testing, which Angel Contreras refused," the forfeiture noted.

Contreras was handcuffed and brought to the Joliet police station, where "Angel Contreras refused to provide a breath sample after the 20-minute observation period. Angel Contreras was then transported to the Will County Adult Detention Facility," court records state.

Joliet Patch left a message on Contreras' cell phone on Friday evening seeking comment from the departing Joliet Township Supervisor.