Probation revoked when Crown Point man gets another drunken driving charge
Post-Tribune staff report August 1, 2012 4:10PM
Updated: August 1, 2012 8:20PM
A Crown Point man charged with fleeing a crash that injured three passengers had his bail revoked Wednesday after the judge heard evidence he’d been charged with felony drunken driving last month.
Lake Superior Court Judge Salvador Vasquez said Eric Hecker Jr., 28, had shown disdain for authority and had failed probation in prior cases.
Hecker had been free on a $6,500 cash bond posted shortly after charges were filed in Lake Superior Court on Nov. 29.
Hecker has pleaded not guilty to charges of failure to stop at an accident resulting in serious bodily injury in an Oct. 22 crash near 101st Avenue and Mississippi Street that injured Samantha Vereb, Lindsay Rogers and Jason Utley.
At 12:30 a.m. on July 3, Portage police patrolman Christopher Burch said Hecker’s driving caught his attention at Portage Avenue and Samuelson when Hecker squealed his tires while making a turn and crossed the center line.
Burch said Hecker had a blood alcohol level of .11 percent, although he passed two of three field sobriety tests.
Defense attorney Andreas Kyres elicited testimony that Hecker was cooperative and that his speech and manual dexterity were not noted as being unusual during the arrest.
Kyres said his client, who has two prior drunken driving convictions, is taking antabuse, a drug to treat chronic alcoholism, and being supervised through the Porter County courts.
