Belleville alderman facing felony DUI charge comments on plan for the future
Belleville Ward 1 Alderman Joe Hazel, who is facing his third DUI charge, says he intends to stay in office despite the aggravated driving under the influence charge filed against him last week.
“I’m still here representing my ward, just as I have in the past,” Hazel said Monday night after a Belleville City Council meeting.
“I have no intention of stepping down, there’s no reason for it.”
Hazel, 62, of 919 E. B St., declined to comment on the Class 2 felony charge filed on April 12 in connection with his arrest by Belleville police on March 17 on East B Street.
Charging documents detail two prior offenses, including DUI charges from November 1987 and April 1991, both of which were prosecuted in Jackson County.
Hazel has a court hearing scheduled for May 5 in the Belleville case.
Hazel has one year remaining on his current term. He said he hasn’t announced his intentions yet for the 2023 election but added, “I’ve got a lot of support in my ward.”
He was first elected to the Ward 1 seat on the City Council in 2015 and was re-elected in 2019.
One of the opponents he defeated in the 2019 election was Bryan Whitaker, who has since won a Ward 1 seat on the council in the 2021 election.
Whitaker said he did not have an opinion on whether Hazel should resign from the council and noted he doesn’t have all “the particulars” in the case. Whitaker said based on what he read in the media coverage of Hazel’s arrest, “He needs to re-evaluate his priorities and focus on some personal change.”
In the Belleville case, Hazel drove a white 2012 Mercedes-Benz on East B Street while under the influence on March 17, according to the arrest warrant.
Police said they were called to East B Street because a man was driving a white pickup truck in the area honking his horn. Officers found the truck but did not see the driver. As the officers were speaking to a resident, the person pointed out a Mercedes-Benz driving by and it was being driven by the man who had been driving the truck.
Belleville Police Capt. Mark Heffernan said Hazel exited the Mercedes-Benz when officers made contact with him. The officers had cause to believe Hazel was intoxicated, Heffernan said, and a search warrant was granted for a blood sample to be taken.
BND reporter Carolyn P. Smith contributed information for this article.
This story was originally published April 19, 2022 at 8:57 AM.
