Police: Elgin man charged with 6th DUI

An Elgin man faces six years in prison after he was charged with his sixth overall DUI and possession of crack cocaine, according to police and court records.

Gregory Echols, 55, of the 1600 block of Meyer Street, is charged with aggravated DUI/6th, aggravated DUI/license revoked, aggravated DUI/no license, driving while license suspended or revoked/4th to 9th offense and possession of a controlled substance, all felonies.

He also is charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, a misdemeanor.

Echols was arrested after a traffic stop at 11:39 p.m. Thursday at South State and Morgan streets on the city's near west side after police saw his 1994 Oldsmobile driving erratically, according to the report.

The officer who pulled over Echols saw an open bottle of alcohol between Echols' legs as he sat in the driver's seat, the report said. Echols quickly opened the driver's door and the officer heard the sound of glass clinking on the pavement, according to the report.

The officer found a glass crack pipe under Echols' vehicle, and a search of Echols' wallet turned up a small amount of crack-cocaine, according to the report.

Echols admitted to police to having four shots of liquor about an hour before driving, the report said. He refused field sobriety tests and a breath test, according to the report.

Details on Echols' previous DUI arrests was not immediately available.

If convicted of the most severe charge, Echols faces a sentence ranging from six to 30 years in prison with no chance of probation. He is held at the Kane County jail on $50,000 bail and is next due in court Wednesday.