By Adam Studzinski

BLOOMINGTON – What do police officers do when a person pulled over on suspicion of driving under the influence refuses to do a breathalyzer test? McLean County State’s Attorney Jason Chambers said the next step is to obtain a warrant to test the person’s blood for alcohol.

“First time DUIs, a lot of times when people get stopped the officers do their investigation, they ask them to blow, they ask them to do a field sobriety test, and they go along with that,” said Chambers. “After they’ve gone through that process the first time, then they get told – in the process they get told by their attorneys – next time, don’t blow.”

Chambers told WJBC’s Dan Swaney they have a system in place to somewhat quickly get permission for a blood test.

“They can’t say we’re going to get a warrant, but they can say, ‘We’re going to go to an assistant state’s attorney. We’re going to ask them to petition for a warrant.’ And that’s what we do,” he said.

Podcast: Listen to Chambers conversation on WJBC.

Chambers explained the whole process usually takes less than two hours.

Adam Studzinski can be reached at [email protected].