Man gets 10-year prison term in DUI death of Naperville motorcyclist
BY BILL BIRD wbird@stmedianetwork.com December 21, 2012 6:36PM
Updated: January 24, 2013 6:38AM
A man who admitted causing a drunken driving crash that killed a businessman from Naperville last year was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison.
David C. Dietrich, 34, who listed addresses in Shorewood and Channahon, pleaded guilty on Oct. 23 to aggravated driving under the influence resulting in the death of George A. Weikum, 58.
Will County Circuit Court Judge Richard C. Schoenstedt imposed the 10-year term. Dietrich faced a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.
The crash occurred about 4:28 p.m. Oct. 8, 2011 on Route 59 near Joseph Street, between 135th and 143rd streets in Plainfield. The crash scene was not far from Weikum’s business, G & C Landscape and Building Inc.
Plainfield police in 2011 said Dietrich was driving his 2005 Ford Ranger pickup truck south on Route 59 just north of Joseph Street when he lost control of it and hit the center median. The truck rolled over and struck Weikum, who was riding north on his 2010 Harley-Davidson motorcycle, police said.
Weikum was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Dietrich was taken to Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet for treatment and discharged the next day.
A wrongful death lawsuit was filed Oct. 4 against Dietrich in Will County on behalf of Weikum’s widow, Collette Weikum, and the couple’s daughter.
Tamarack Golf Club and Victory Baseball also are named as defendants in the suit. The golf club is in the unincorporated Tamarack Fairways area between Naperville and Plainfield. The suit contends Dietrich on the day of the crash got drunk while working at the Victory Baseball 9U Victory Gold event at the club.
James D. Spiros, the personal injury attorney representing the Weikum family, said earlier this year George Weikum “was a very dedicated husband, father and community member,” whose death “has been a tragic situation for the family, resulting in a tremendous void.”
Collette Weikum declined comment on the sentencing Friday afternoon.
