Ex-Last Fling director charged with DUI
GENEVA — An attorney and former executive director of the Naperville Jaycees' Last Fling celebration faces drunken driving charges, following his arrest early Halloween morning.
John R. Wrona, a personal injury lawyer, is free on bail. He is scheduled to appear Nov. 17 in Kane County Circuit Court on a charge of driving under the influence, according to a release from State's Attorney John A. Barsanti's office.
Wrona, 39, is a former Naperville resident now living at 11646 Millennium Parkway in Plainfield, a Geneva police report indicated.
He served as co-executive director of the Naperville Jaycees' 2008 Last Fling and was a member of the festival's executive committee from 2004 to 2007. The 2008 Last Fling raised more than $200,000 for Naperville-area charities and civic organizations.
A patrol officer arrested Wrona about 2:16 a.m. Saturday as he was driving his 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee sport utility vehicle south on Crissey Avenue near Fabyan Parkway, the police report stated. He was traveling alone at the time.
The officer determined Wrona was legally drunk, although the police report did not indicate his blood-alcohol content, the report stated. Wrona was given two other traffic tickets, including one for allegedly making an improper turn.
Wrona was one of 13 men and women arrested as part of Barsanti's most recent "No-Refusal" operation targeting inebriated drivers at Halloween. Officers from 11 Fox Valley police agencies participated in the effort, as did agents of the Kane County Sheriff's Department and Illinois State Police.
Three of the suspected drunken drivers have DUI convictions on their records, and two initially refused to provide a blood-alcohol content sample. The Barsanti release did not name those motorists.
Wrona is a partner in the Chicago-based Gardiner, Koch, Weisberg & Wrona law firm. He helped win "over $15 million of recoveries on behalf of clients in wrongful death and personal injury cases," according to his firm's Web site.
He has been a member of the Naperville Jaycees since 2002, and worked as an adjunct professor of law and guest instructor at the Northwestern University School of Law, the Web site indicated.
Two telephone messages seeking comment were left earlier this week at Wrona's office. Neither was returned.
