Berwyn man charged with DUI following accident with Pace bus: police

RIVERSIDE - A Berwyn man was charged with driving under the influence of drugs and other charges Oct. 24 after being involved in an accident with a Pace bus in Riverside, police said.

Kevin Brandon Miranda, 19, of the 2100 block of South Harvey Avenue, also was charged with illegal transportation of cannabis, failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident and no proof of insurance.

At 7:07 a.m. police received numerous 911 phone calls reporting an accident involving a Pace bus in the southbound lanes of Harlem Avenue at East Burlington Street.

The bus was occupied by the driver and three passengers; all denied any physical injuries. Police checked on the driver, who appeared to be incoherent and had minor injuries.

While police spoke with Miranda, who drove a 2008 Honda Civic, they detected a strong odor of cannabis on the his breath. His eyes were bloodshot and he was slurring his speech. He had difficulty answering the officer's questions, police said.

Police conducted a roadside sobriety testing, which Miranda failed. Additionally, police recovered a bag of cannabis in the front driver's seat. Miranda said he had smoked cannabis before driving. He had minor injuries and was transported to MacNeal hospital in Berwyn for further treatment.

Police went to the hospital and administered a blood and urine kit for the DUI and subsequently requested the assistance of the Riverside Police Department's Drug Recognition Expert (DRE), who responded to the hospital and conducted the DRE drugged DUI assessment.

It revealed that the driver was also under the influence of cannabis, which impaired impaired his driving. Miranda was treated medically and released back to police custody the same morning of the accident.

“While some forms of cannabis are legal in Illinois, this situation was not,” Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel said in a statement, “Kevin Brandon Miranda was driving under the influence of cannabis, had just ingested cannabis before he got into the car, and didn’t have the cannabis packaged properly for transportation per current Illinois law. Taking into consideration that this was 7 a.m. and there were passengers on the bus, I am thankful that no one was seriously injured or killed.”