Driver didn’t tell police he drank

JOLIET – When Chicago Heights police told Cecil R. Conner Jr. to drive his girlfriend’s young son home, he didn’t argue.

Whether the 22-year-old Steger man should have admitted to drinking was one of many points argued by attorneys Monday in Judge Edward Burmila’s courtroom.

Defense attorney Jeffrey Tomczak told the court that he has phone records showing Conner tried to find someone else to drive Kathie LaFond’s 5-year-old son home.

Tomczak also said keys could be heard on an audiotape as a Chicago Heights officer told Conner, “Drive that child home.”

LaFond was driving Conner and her son, Michael Langford, in her car May 10 when she was pulled over for routine traffic violations in Chicago Heights. LaFond was taken into custody for driving on a suspended license.

Police say there were no indications Connor was impaired. They told him to take the little boy home, but he smashed the car into a tree, killing the boy, about 40 minutes later at 34th and Carpenter Streets in Steger.

Conner faces multiple counts of aggravated DUI. His blood-alcohol content was .208, more than twice the legal limit, and had traces of marijuana.