NEWS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RIVERSIDE POLICE DEPARTMENT

31 Riverside Road, Riv erside, IL 60546
CONTACT: Chief Tom Weitzel | 708.447.2127 | tweitzel@riverside.il.us

April 4, 2018
Riverside Police Arrest Drunk Driver Labeled One of America's Worst Offenders

Driver with six prior DUI arrests/convictions, three active warrants, with 11 children taken away
from prior DUI in Minnesota due to extreme alcoholism, arrested again for driving intoxicated

On Monday, April 2, 2018, at 9:27 p.m., Riverside Police Department received a 9-1-1 phone call reporting
a female who was passed out behind the wheel of her vehicle in a gas station at 3346 South Harlem Avenue
in Riverside. The caller wanted officers to do a wellbeing check due to a possible medical problem.

When officers arrived, the female was alert and conscious, in control of the vehicle, sitting in it, keys in the
ignition and engine running. It looked as if she had attempted to fill her 2005 Nissan Maxima with kerosene,
not gasoline, at the kerosene pump.

Officers immediately saw she was highly intoxicated and had bloodshot, glassy eyes, and emitted a strong
odor of alcohol from her breath. Officers also observed an open bottle of Crown Royal liquor in the front
passenger seat; witnesses later said she was drinking from the bottle before officers arrived.

Officers asked her to step out of her vehicle and she was in total disarray, not wearing shoes, and her clothes
were literally falling off her when officers escorted her to the rear of the car for field sobriety testing.

She told the officers she had 11 children and couldn't find them. Officers searched the area for what was
reported to be children with her but found none. When they interviewed witnesses, including the gas station
attendant, they stated she was the only one in the car and there were no children present at any
time. However, she continued to insist she had children with her.

She was asked to perform field sobriety testing at the scene which she refused. At this point the officers
placed her under arrest for drunk driving.

Once at the police station lockup the offender was fingerprinted and positively identified as Tasha Lynn
Schleicher, 41, of New Hope Minnesota. Her fingerprint classification revealed her revoked driver’s license
and that she had outstanding warrants from three states.

Arrested by Riverside Police was Tasha Lynn Schleicher, 41 of the 7700 block of 62nd Avenue in New
Hope, Minnesota. She has been charged with two counts of felony aggravated drunk driving, two
counts of misdemeanor drunk driving, no vehicle insurance, driving while license revoked(for DUI)
and transportation of open alcohol while driving.

Tasha Schleicher had six prior DUI arrests out of six states, Kentucky December 2007, Wisconsin
November 2008, Indiana June 2016, California November 2016, Oregon April 2017 and Minnesota October
2017. Schneider was also wanted on three out-of-state warrants: Nebraska, for a violation of court order
(no bond), Idaho, for failure to appear for a prior drunk driving charge (no bond), and Oregon for failure to
appear on a prior drunk driving arrest (no bond).
 NEWS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RIVERSIDE POLICE DEPARTMENT
31 Riverside Road, Riv erside, IL 60546
CONTACT: Chief Tom Weitzel | 708.447.2127 | tweitzel@riverside.il.us

Page 2

Tasha Schleicher could not explain why she was in Illinois and continued to insist she was with her
children. Riverside Police contacted New Hope Minnesota Police Department in attempt to get family
members to verify that the children were not in Illinois. Riverside Police confirmed with Minnesota Child
Protective Services that her children had been taken away from her in due to the prior DUI arrest in
Minnesota in October 2017.

Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel stated, “Ms. Schleicher was arrested by Riverside for aggravated
drunk driving based on her prior DUI driving history. This is one of the worst impaired driving arrests our
agency has ever made. Schneider's history of six prior DUI’s in six states, with three outstanding warrants
from various states speaks to her transient nature. When she was arrested in a state, she would just not
show up in court unless she was held in custody. That’s one of the reasons for so many outstanding
warrants. In Minnesota she was arrested with children in the car, and alleged to have been breastfeeding
one child while driving intoxicated. Due to her criminal background of intoxication, I instructed officers
to contact Child Protective Services in Minnesota and advise them of the arrest and to contact our Illinois
DCFS. Officers also seized her vehicle under the Illinois statutes for DUI seizures.”

Weitzel went on to say that while in custody, Schneider told officers that she was pregnant, bleeding and
having a miscarriage. She was transported to MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn in police custody. The hospital
gave her a pregnancy test and found her statement was fictitious and that there was no medical condition
from which she was suffering.

The chief personally called the Cook County States Attorney's Office to advise them of this serious impaired
driving arrest and relayed that not only should Tasha Schleicher be held in custody, but that she also
absolutely needed immediate social service intervention and professional medical attention for severe
alcohol abuse.

Ms. Schneider has 11 prior arrests in multiple states and all are DUI related. Her criminal history includes
the States of Michigan, Minnesota, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Colorado, Nebraska, Indiana, California and
Oregon. Ms. Schneider uses multiple alias names, dates of birth and nine separate social security numbers.
When arrested, she gave a fictitious name and was only identified through her fingerprints.

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The public is reminded that a signed complaint is not evidence of guilt and that all defendants
in a criminal case are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.