Record number of tickets?

Gus Philpott
Woodstock Advocate
January 28, 2011

Remember back in September when Island Lake Police chased Seth Pederson, and newspaper articles gave a lot of space to the 55 tickets that were issued? And then a couple of days later, Algonquin grabbed Pedersen and charged him with DUI?

You can expect these cases to wind their way through the McHenry County court system and some day, if folks live long enough, they might learn what happened.

What didn't get reported in the Northwest Herald was that Algonquin dropped six charges against Pederson. Algonquin had charged him with Resisting a peace officer, DUI, Improper lane usage, Fleeing/Attempt to elude, Driver transporting alcohol, and uninsured vehicle. All those charges were nolle prossed on January 13, 2011, by Judge Charles Weech.

There must be a story behind these charges being dropped. Why would Algonquin ask for those cases to be dropped? In the spirit of fairness to any person charged with so many violations and given considerable newspaper space, when the charges are dropped, it is important that the public be informed (and not on Page 86).

A September 23rd article in the Northwest Herald stated that "at least 55 charges" were filed in regard to Pedersen's driving, after Wauconda Police asked Island Lake Police to stop him. Were some of them Lake County charges?

How long did it take the officer (s) to write up all those tickets? Is there a better way? Is Island Lake Police Department policy to write a ticket for every violation that occurred? Or, in the interest of efficiency (and economy), do you just write up the major ones and document all the others for your courtroom testimony?

Will Pedersen's public defender ask the judge to call each case separately? Let's say each case gets two minutes for the P/D to ask the judge for a continuance and explain why. Fifty cases at two minutes .... almost two hours, and then you add all the time for the court clerk to update each and every record.

Pedersen's next court date is February 2nd.

There must be a better way...