Bond in Illinois drunk driving case increased to $500,000

The bond of a 26-year-old Illinois man facing felony drunk driving charges was increased to $500,000 on Jan. 4 even though the monitoring bracelet he has been ordered to wear did not indicate that he had consumed alcohol. A DeKalb County judge decided to increase the man’s bond after hearing that he had previously violated the terms of his bail and failed to appear in court on two separate occasions.

DeKalb resident has been charged with aggravated DUI resulting in death and DUI causing serious bodily harm in connection with a May 2017 accident near Northern Illinois University that claimed the life of a 23-year-old graduate student. The conditions of his $20,000 recognizance bond require him to abstain from alcohol, wear an alcohol-monitoring bracelet and not allow alcohol near the device. The man was taken into custody in December after the Electronic Home Monitoring Division of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office determined that he had visited a friend’s home and spent more than four hours at a neighborhood bar.