‘I broke my face’: dashcam video shows Cicero police captain’s drunk driving crash

By MICHAELA SPRINGER
WISH-TV | wishtv.com

Editor’s note: Two videos showing dashcam footage from both inside and outside the vehicle can be seen at this link on WISH-TV’s website. One video is at the top of the story, and the other video is at the bottom. The crash happens at approximately the 1 minute, 25 second mark in both videos.

Newly released dashcam footage shows the moments before and after a Cicero police captain crashed his car while driving drunk on Christmas night – and tried to cover it up with the help of family members.

Capt. Edwin Hodson was formally charged on Jan. 16 with operating a vehicle while intoxicated, operating and endangering a person, and leaving the scene of an accident. He was placed on administrative leave immediately after the incident. It was unclear if he would return to the position anytime soon.

His wife, Lora Hodson, and father-in-law Charles S. Johnston, also face charges affiliated with the coverup.

Dashcam footage shared with News 8 by the Cicero Police Department provides a view of both inside and outside Ed Hodson’s police vehicle in the time surrounding the crash.

The 40-minute-long videos open with the police captain behind the wheel of his marked SUV. He is seen swerving in his lane and driving erratically.

Around a minute-and-a-half in, Hodson swerves off the road, into a ditch, and hits an underground cable pole. He veers back onto the road, and the SUV becomes inoperable.

A minute later, Lora Hodson arrives. She is heard opening the door and asking what happened. After a few seconds, Ed Hodson says, “I broke my face.”

“On what? What’d you hit?” Lora Hodson responds.

“The road,” he answers.

Through the camera audio, she’s heard saying “If the cops end up here, we’re in trouble.”

The audio also captured Lora Hodson calling her father, Charles Johnston, asking for him and his wife Denise to come and get them. At some point, she tells her husband, “I figured you shouldn’t be drinking and driving.”

The pair are then heard arguing for several minutes, with Lora Hodson demanding her husband get out of the driver’s seat. Multiple times, she offers to say she was driving the vehicle to alleviate some of the blame.

He refuses, saying it won’t make a difference.

Around 10 minutes into each video, Charles Johnston arrives. The recordings catch Lora Hodson asking her father to make her husband get out of the driver’s seat.

Charles Johnston then speaks, demanding Ed Hodson gets out of the SUV. “This is not an option,” he states, followed by an expletive.

Shortly after, Denise Johnston is seen pulling up to the crash, just as Ed Hodson exits the police SUV and walks away. Lora Hodson calls after him, but he does not respond. Denise Johnston then drives alongside Ed Hodson as he walks away, eventually picking him up and driving away a few minutes later.

While Ed Hodson and Denise Johnston leave the scene, Lora Hodson is heard inside the police SUV speaking to someone over the phone. She explains how Ed Hodson’s police car is broken and asks about what towing services she should reach out to.

Around 15 minutes into each video, Lora Hodson turns off the SUV, puts on the emergency lights, and exits. She remains outside the vehicle for the remainder of the videos.

Throughout the footage, witnesses are recorded approaching the SUV. Lora Hodson is heard early on telling two of them that they were OK and she had called her parents to come get them.

Cicero police did not make contact with Ed Hodson until three hours after the crash. When approached by detectives, Ed Hodson appeared unsteady, slurred his words, and spoke repetitively, court documents say.

Madison County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Andrew Hanna was selected as the special prosecutor for the case. He spoke with News 8 after charges were filed, and said “with great power comes great responsibility.”

“I have all the respect in the world for law enforcement our community, but with great power comes great responsibility, and I think that law enforcement are held to an even higher standard, because those are who we entrust in our communities to enforce our laws,” Hanna said.

The Hodsons and Charles Johnston face the following charges:

Edwin A. Hodson, 38, Cicero: Operating a vehicle while intoxicated (Class C misdemeanor); Operating a vehicle while intoxicated, endangering a person (Class A misdemeanor); Leaving the scene of an accident (Class B misdemeanor)
Lora L. Hodson, 39, Cicero: False informing (Class B misdemeanor); Aiding, inducing or causing a leaving the scene of an accident (Class B misdemeanor)
Charles S. Johnston, 65, Noblesville: Aiding, Inducing or Causing a Leaving the Scene of an Accident (Class B misdemeanor)

A court hearing is set for Feb. 13.

This story was originally published by WISH-TV at wishtv.com/news/i-team-8/cicero-police-officer-drunk-driving-dashcam-footage.