CHICAGO RIDGE – Police say a drunk driver sent officers scrambling when he plowed into a roadside safety check over the weekend.  It all went down Saturday night when according to police, Lawrence Maderak, 67, slammed his Dodge Ram truck into a flashing sign that was directing drivers off the road into the checkpoint area.

Police say the truck continued at a slow speed toward officers manning the checkpoint, and Maderak ignored their orders to stop. An officer was able to open a door and stop the truck by throwing it into park. 

Maderak asked officers, “what’s going on?” But apparently knew enough to refuse a blood-alcohol test before being taken to a hospital for observation, according to police.

He was charged with drunken driving, failing to reduce speed to avoid an accident, disobeying a traffic signal and no insurance.

The safety check which was scheduled to be fours hours lasted only 30 minutes.