Judge’s strange double duties

A DuPage County Jail inmate will be married the same day he is sentenced for a deadly crash that occurred while he was driving under the influence. Karlos Leath of Warrenville faces up to eight years in prison after pleading guilty Friday to aggravated driving under the influence. The Arlington Heights Daily Herald reports Leath will be sentenced December 12th by Judge Blanche Hill Fawell, who also will officiate at his wedding.

Arrest fails to deter driver

The first stop should have told 26-year old Luis Enrique Fuentes Lopez to stop driving. It did not. He was arrested twice within 90 minutes this morning. The Mendota man was stopped at Route 6 and Buffalo streets in Peru by LaSalle police at 12:30am. He was ticketed for no valid license, improper lane usage and not wearing a seatbelt. Lopez didn’t park the car after that. He was stopped at 2am at 1100 Gooding. LaSalle police charged him with still having no valid drivers license, failure to signal, not wearing a seatbelt and unsafe opening of a car door. Lopez received his second I-Bond of the morning and was released.

Former fire chief passes away

He began as a LaSalle fire department volunteer and in time, became Peru’s Fire Chief. Gary Eccles lost a battle with cancer Saturday and leaves behind his wife and three daughters. Peru officer Mark Credi was a close friend and said Eccles was a hero in the true sense of the word. He was thoughtful , caring and a loving family man. Numerous fire departments are sending their sympathies to the Eccles family and the Peru fire department via facebook. One of Gary’s daughters, Brittany reads news weekdays on 96-5 The Wolf and 99-3 WAJK.