To read the police records on the arrest, click here, See below article for video of the arrest.
Illinois State Police on Friday released reports documenting the Feb. 6 arrest of state auditor general William Holland on suspicion of driving under the influence.
A video of the arrest shows Holland weaving as he drove his pickup truck on Stanford Avenue. He told the arresting officer that he had been drinking at Spammy’s, a Springfield bar.
Holland struggled to maintain his balance while performing field sobriety tests and refused a breath test. When the arresting officer told him to stand on one foot and count from one to 30 out loud by saying “ 1,000, 1,001, 1,002, 1,003…” the auditor general counted up to 1,033, then told the officer that he thought he would get extra credit by counting further than instructed.
The release of records came after Illinois Times sued police under the state Freedom of Information Act. Police had refused to release the records, saying that disclosure would deprive Holland of a fair trial and would interfere with a law enforcement proceeding. That is no longer the case, according to a letter from state police Lt. Steve Lyddon, who did not say what had changed since the newspaper sued.
Holland refused to take a breath test. Anyone who either fails a test or refuses one is supposed to have their driver’s license suspended. Holland is due in Sangamon County Circuit Court on March 21 for a hearing in which his attorney is expected to argue the auditor general should keep his license because the arresting officer did not have sufficient grounds to request a test. A pre-trial conference on the underlying DUI charge is set for April 22.
Contact Bruce Rushton at [email protected].
VIDEO: Skip to 3:10 to see Holland's interaction with the Illinois State Police trooper.
