A Hainesville man was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, violation of Scott’s Law, and child endangerment on November 20, 2019, after he crashed into a Round Lake Park Police Squad Car.
On November 20, at approximately 7:40PM, Lake County Sheriff’s Deputies were dispatched to Hainesville Road just north of Oak Avenue, Round Lake Park to investigate the traffic crash. Sheriff’s deputies arrived and found the driver of a 2002 Ford SUV, Alejandro Gonzalez-Maldonado, 49, of the 300 block of Pineview Drive, Hainesville, sideswiped a squad car as well as a vehicle the police officer pulled over.
The Round Lake Park Police Officer had the driver of a 1993 Dodge Pickup pulled over to the side of southbound Hainesville Road. The emergency lights on the officer’s squad car were illuminated when the incident occurred. Fortunately, the police officer was speaking to the driver of the Dodge from the Dodge’s front passenger side window, versus the driver’s window. As the officer was speaking to the driver of the Dodge, Gonzalez-Maldonado, who was traveling southbound, sideswiped the driver’s side of the squad car, then sideswiped the driver’s side of the Dodge.
Had the police officer been speaking to the driver of the Dodge at the driver’s side of the vehicle, the officer would have been struck and likely seriously injured.
Sheriff’s deputies determined Gonzalez-Maldonado, who was transporting a child under the age of 10, was under the influence of alcohol. He was arrested and transported to the Lake County Jail where he was subsequently charged with:
Two counts of driving under the influence of alcohol (class A misdemeanors)
Child endangerment (class A misdemeanor)
Scott’s Law violation
Failure to reduce speed to avoid a crash
Improper lane usage
Expired registration
Gonzalez-Maldonado was released on a $3,000.00 Recognizance Bond pending a return court date of December 18, 2019, at 9:00AM in courtroom C404.
All defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.