Samantha Steele, a Cook County elected official, successfully avoided having her driver’s license revoked during a Friday court hearing related to a DUI charge. The hearing, held at the Daley Center, saw Steele’s defense lawyer, John Fotopoulos, aggressively challenge the arresting Chicago Police Department officer, Danny Yu.
Steele, a first-term Democratic member of the county’s property-tax appeal panel, was arrested last month after crashing her vehicle into parked cars on Chicago’s North Side. Prosecutors argued for license revocation, but Fotopoulos successfully argued that Officer Yu failed to properly warn Steele before she refused DUI testing. Fotopoulos suggested that Officer Yu, a seven-year CPD veteran, lacked sufficient DUI arrest training, stating that the officer “meant well” but made technical mistakes during the November 10th arrest.
During his testimony, Officer Yu reiterated claims from his police report that Steele made inappropriate comments about the size of his penis. Fotopoulos challenged the relevance of these alleged comments to Steele’s refusal to submit to testing. He also alleged that Yu made a politically charged remark to Steele, claiming Yu stated, “You Democrats are going to have to start following the law now.” Neither of these comments were captured on police body camera footage, as the cameras were turned off at the hospital where Steele received treatment after the accident. However, videos from the scene show Steele repeatedly identifying herself as an elected official and refusing to cooperate with officers, including refusing to exit her damaged vehicle.
Initially, Judge Athena James Frentzas found Officer Yu credible and denied Fotopoulos’ motion. However, after Fotopoulos’ objection and further questioning of Officer Yu, the judge reversed her decision, blocking the license revocation. Steele and her lawyer declined to comment after the hearing, as did the prosecutors. The next court hearing is scheduled for February 14th.