Man charged with DUI in Riverside tells cops Broadview mayor would vouch for him

A Broadview man was charged April 18 with felony aggravated drunken driving, felony aggravated driving while license revoked and several other traffic offenses after he ran a red light and was clocked driving 19 miles over the limit in Riverside, police said.

Ahkeen Henderson, 45, of the 2600 block of South 10th Avenue, also was charged with a misdemeanor count of driving while intoxicated, disobeying a red light, speeding and improper lane use, police said.

Riverside police at 8:23 p.m. spotted a car run through a red light at Miller and Ogden avenues. The car then sped away from the intersection and was clocked at 51 mph in a 30-mph zone, police said.

Henderson was observed weaving from the lane and crossing all lane markers multiple times, police said. He was stopped at Ogden Avenue and Gage Road.

Police said they could smell a strong odor of alcohol coming from Henderson’s breath and inside the car. Henderson told police he was coming from a volunteer program for the mayor of Broadview. He agreed to perform roadside field sobriety tests for DUI. However, he asked police if he could call the mayor of Broadview as he would vouch for him to not be arrested. When that did not work, Henderson asked police to call his brother-in-law, reportedly a Chicago police officer, police said.

Police said they would do neither and asked Henderson to continue to participate in field sobriety testing, which he did and failed all of them, police said. Henderson was arrested for DUI. Police later learned that Henderson had a revoked driver’s license for two previous DUI convictions and numerous offenses for driving on a revoked license.

Henderson continued to attempt to have police drop charges by asking them to call the mayor of Broadview and his brother-in-law, police said.

“Regrettably, this is becoming a common occurrence,” Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel said in a statement. “This is the fifth DUI and fourth felony DUI in the last few weeks. Mr. Henderson could barely stand. He was stumbling and losing his balance the entire time he was in police custody as his intoxication level was severe. There is no question he was an extreme danger to other motorists on the roadway.”