Drunk Man Causes 3-Car Crash, Tells Cops The 12 Beers He Drank Before Driving Were 'No Big Deal'

A drunk driver who caused a three-car crash last Thursday reportedly told Riverside officers that the 12 beers he’d had prior to getting behind the wheel were an everyday routine and “no big deal.”

Francisco Castro, 50, a Lemont resident, was arrested around 3 p.m. Feb. 23 when police responded to a call of an injury crash in the northbound lanes of First Avenue, Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel said in a release Wednesday. The accident took place just south of 31st Street, near the Brookfield Zoo.

Three vehicles had collided during the incident, Weitzel said, and Castro had to be treated for head injuries. The driver who called 911 told cops he’d been following Castro’s white van and had seen him swerving over double yellow lines and talking on his phone the entire time. The erratic driving, the witness said, led them to believe Castro was driving drunk.

On his final crossover of a double yellow line near 31st Street, Castro crashed his car into two others.

Officers who responded to the scene said they smelled alcohol on Castro’s breath immediately after approaching him. Before his car was towed, they found several beer cans in the front compartment. Castro reportedly told cops openly that he’d had 12 beers before driving and that it was “no big deal.” He said he has 12 beers every day and that nobody ever gets hurt.

According to Weitzel’s release, Castro went from being alert to nearly unconscious while he was being transported to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood for a mouth injury. At the hospital, Weitzel said, Castro's blood alcohol level was determined to be 0.38, which is four times the legal limit in Illinois.

“Mr. Castro’s statement that he drinks 12 beers a day and never hurts anyone turned out to be false,” Weitzel said in the release. “Not only did he hurt other people — he sustained an injury as a result of the crash. The combination of talking on a cellphone and driving intoxicated on a crowded roadway at 3 p.m. right next to Riverside Brookfield High School and Brookfield Zoo is definitely a recipe for disaster. I’m just relieved there were no serious injuries as a result of this drunken driving crash.”

Castro was charged with two counts of drunken driving, transportation of open alcohol, improper lane usage, failure to slow down to avoid an accident and driving while using a cellphone. He had to be held overnight at the hospital due to an alcohol overdose but was released the next day.

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Mugshot courtesy of Riverside PD