Justice man charged with DUI following collision in Riverside

A Justice man was charged with driving under the influence of drugs April 6 after a crash in Riverside, police said.

Rick D. Ohlson, 30, of the 8000 block of South 86th Avenue, also was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident and no vehicle insurance, police said. Ohlson received several other citations, police said.

Riverside police at 5:06 p.m. responded to a crash with injuries in the 2900 block of South Harlem Avenue. One car rear-ended another car that was stopped in the curbside lane, police said.

When police arrived, they found a female with a head injury, bleeding profusely and paramedics were summoned, police said. Another person was sitting in the parkway grass adjacent to the crash scene and did not have any visible injuries, but appeared to be confused, police said.

An investigation revealed that a Chicago resident pulled over to the curb and put his four-way flashers on because he saw a sign about a rental unit on Harlem Avenue and wanted to get the phone number. He said that almost immediately after stopping, another driver hit his vehicle in the rear, which pushed his car forward, police said.

Speaking with Ohlson, the driver of the car who rear-ended the stopped car, police noticed he had slow speech and movements, police said. There were signs of alcohol and drug impairment, and police saw track marks on his arm consistent with injecting narcotics, police said. Police discovered drug paraphernalia in the car, including numerous hypodermic needles and syringes, authorities said.

Ohlson said he had used heroin before driving, police said. Police asked him to perform a sobriety test, but he was unable to do so, according to police.

Ohlson said he had taken the heroin at 2:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the Burlington Coat Factory in North Riverside Mall, police said. He then fell asleep for some time before he started driving on Harlem Avenue. That is all he remembered about the crash, police said.

The driver of the other vehicle in the accident, a 39-year-old Chicago man, was treated by paramedics but was not taken to the hospital, police said. The 23-year-old female passenger in Ohlson’s car, a Mount Prospect resident, was taken to the hospital for a head injury, police said.

Both vehicles sustained heavy damage and were towed from the scene.

It was the second major crash with injuries involving alcohol or drugs that Riverside police responded to in the past several days, police said.

“Ingesting heroin before you drive is completely reckless and puts everyone’s life in danger who are on the roadways,” Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel said in a statement.