Teh One Who Knocks
03-24-2014, 12:05 PM
By Gregory Trotter, Tribune reporter
http://i.imgur.com/lOZeUAx.jpg
Deerfield police say a Northbrook woman invented a story about her mother having a medical emergency to explain to cops why she was talking on her cellphone while driving.
Janet Chencinski, 67, of the 100 block of Avon Road, was allegedly driving while talking on her cellphone near Waukegan and Lake Cook roads in Deerfield about 4:25 p.m. Wednesday, according to Deerfield police Deputy Chief Tom Keane.
When police pulled her over, Chencinski told the officer she was talking to her mother, who lives in Skokie and was very sick and suffering from "heart pain," according to a Deerfield police news release.
Chencinski told the officer it was a medical emergency, according to the release. The officer let Chencinski go with a warning, called 911 and requested that an ambulance be sent to the mother's house, authorities said.
But after Skokie paramedics arrived at Chencinski's mother's home, they found the woman was fine and had not spoken with her daughter that day, the release said.
"We figured we better help her out and get some medical assistance to her mother. And it turned out she was fine," Keane said. "She was just using that as a ploy to get out of a ticket."
Early Thursday morning, Chencinski turned herself in to Deerfield police and was charged with using a cellphone while driving, obstructing a police officer and disorderly conduct, authorities said.
Chencinski could not immediately be reached for comment.
Medical emergencies are considered an exemption under the new state law banning the use of hand-held cellphones while driving, Keane said.
"There was no reason to not believe her," he said.
The new cellphone law went into effect in January; the fine for first-time offenders is $75.
Chencinski was released on bond and is due in court May 6, authorities said.
http://i.imgur.com/lOZeUAx.jpg
Deerfield police say a Northbrook woman invented a story about her mother having a medical emergency to explain to cops why she was talking on her cellphone while driving.
Janet Chencinski, 67, of the 100 block of Avon Road, was allegedly driving while talking on her cellphone near Waukegan and Lake Cook roads in Deerfield about 4:25 p.m. Wednesday, according to Deerfield police Deputy Chief Tom Keane.
When police pulled her over, Chencinski told the officer she was talking to her mother, who lives in Skokie and was very sick and suffering from "heart pain," according to a Deerfield police news release.
Chencinski told the officer it was a medical emergency, according to the release. The officer let Chencinski go with a warning, called 911 and requested that an ambulance be sent to the mother's house, authorities said.
But after Skokie paramedics arrived at Chencinski's mother's home, they found the woman was fine and had not spoken with her daughter that day, the release said.
"We figured we better help her out and get some medical assistance to her mother. And it turned out she was fine," Keane said. "She was just using that as a ploy to get out of a ticket."
Early Thursday morning, Chencinski turned herself in to Deerfield police and was charged with using a cellphone while driving, obstructing a police officer and disorderly conduct, authorities said.
Chencinski could not immediately be reached for comment.
Medical emergencies are considered an exemption under the new state law banning the use of hand-held cellphones while driving, Keane said.
"There was no reason to not believe her," he said.
The new cellphone law went into effect in January; the fine for first-time offenders is $75.
Chencinski was released on bond and is due in court May 6, authorities said.