Former Orland Hills police officer sentenced to 6 years for deadly DUI

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July 9

JOLIET – Will County State’s Attorney James W. Glasgow announced that a former part-time Orland Hills police officer today was sentenced to six years in prison for a drunken driving collision that killed a 20-year-old Homewood man in 2010.

Robert C. Caputo, 62, of 8811 W. 67th St. in Orland Hills, pleaded guilty in May to aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol, a Class 2 felony that carries a penalty of three to 14 years in prison. He was sentenced by Circuit Judge Edward Burmila.

Caputo was driving his pickup truck while intoxicated on eastbound Interstate 80 near New Lenox on Sept. 12, 2010 when he struck a Chevrolet Malibu parked on the left shoulder of the road. The impact forced the car into a ditch where it caught fire.

DaVon Pitts, who owned the Malibu, had parked it on the shoulder because of a flat tire. He was inside the vehicle on his cellular phone when the crash occurred. Pitts was pronounced dead at the scene.

After the collision, Caputo’s truck became airborne and crossed the median into westbound traffic, hitting another vehicle. The 40-year-old driver of that vehicle as well as a 32-year-old female passenger and a 10-year-old boy escaped serious injury.

Caputo’s blood-alcohol level was .11 shortly after the crash. The legal limit is .08.

“Robert Caputo’s callous decision to drink and then drive claimed the life of a young man,” said State’s Attorney Glasgow. “He can now spend the next six years in state prison contemplating the horrific outcome of his selfish action.”

The State’s Attorney credited Assistant State’s Attorney Fred Harvey for securing an  important conviction and sentence.