Police Accuse Driver of Texting and Puffing Pot While Stopped Next to Cop

A officer riding a motorcycle said he watched a driver text and smoke weed last week while stopped at a red light on 167th Street. 

Steven J. Wacek, 20, of the 15300 block of Walnut Road in Oak Forest, was arrested around 12 p.m. March 14. An officer said he was headed westbound on 167th Street when he stopped at Oak Park Avenue for a red light. It was at that time that the officer saw Wacek "pressing a multitude of keyboard characters" on his phone for about 30 seconds, then pick up a multi-colored, glass "one hitter" and smoke out of it, according to the police report.

"(The officer) asked the driver why he would be smoking cannabis with an officer text to him and while he was driving," the report said. "The driver replied that he smokes it while he's driving all the time."

The officer pulled Wacek over near 167th Street and New England Avenue, where he reportedly failed field sobriety tests. He was cooperative with police, however, and told them he had marijuana and pills in his vehicle's center console, the report said.

Police said they found 3.3 grams of marijuana, 20 blue Alprazolam tablets and 25 Hydrocodone pills in the car. Wacek told officers he got the pills from his grandmother, who later denied ever giving them to him and eventually got them back from police, the report said.

Wacek was taken to Advocate South Suburban Hospital for blood and urine testing. He was charged with texting while driving and driving under the influence of drugs. He was also issued two citations for violating local ordinances—possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. 

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