Richard Madison, 54, of Palos Hills initially was due in bond court Sunday after authorities say he was intoxicated when he took Oswego East High School teens to their senior prom in Glen Ellyn. DuPage County authorities said Madison posted bond before the hearing and was released from jail, which is allowed for misdemeanor charges.
According to police, 23 students were on board, and several students became alarmed due to Madison's erratic driving and called their parents, who contacted police.
"It was kind of a bummer after when everyone was getting in their party buses and we were sitting in the car, riding home," said Kelsey Dano, a student at Oswego East High School who was in the limo.
Dano said things went awry from the start. The driver was half hour late and in the wrong pick up location. Still, the 23 Oswego East High School students piled into the bus for the ride to prom.
That's when things got worse.
"We came to two lanes of traffic where we had to cross both of them and he pulled out in front of three cars coming. They all had to slam on their brakes and swerve. And then he hopped a median. After that everyone was freaking out, like something is not right," said Dano.
After trying to drop them off at the wrong location several miles away from the prom, Madison was arrested. He is charged with two counts of driving under the influence and reckless conduct.
Dano says prom night turned out to be a stressful event.
"We kept getting called out of the dance to go talk, write our names in case police needed to question us for their investigation," she said.
Meanwhile, parents are relieved their children are OK.
"It's disappointing because the reason we hired a limo service was to avoid issues like that. . . Anything could have happened. We're just happy they were safe and sound and we had the ability to get them home safe," said Bill Dano, father.
