Michael P. Ditka – one of two sons of the former Bears coach facing DUI charges out of Deerfield – scored a legal touchdown of sorts Thursday when a Lake County judge granted a motion that Ditka’s lawyer said essentially voids his arrest.

Ditka, 49, was arrested on April 20 and charged with DUI after authorities said a police officer approached him while he was sitting in a black Hummer in the parking lot of his Deerfield housing complex.

The officer said he asked Ditka to exit the vehicle after he smelled a strong odor of alcohol, according to a police report, and a preliminary breath test indicated that Ditka’s blood alcohol concentration was 0.189 percent, more than twice the legal limit in Illinois.

The charge was later upgraded to a felony because Ditka had two previous DUI charges against him in Lake County, court and police records show.

In a victory for Ditka, though, Judge Brian Hughes ruled Thursday that the police stop in the most recent case was not “consensual” and that Ditka’s arrest was not “constitutionally reasonable.”

“There was no reasonable suspicion that the defendant had committed a criminal offense,” Hughes said.

Ditka’s attorney, Robert Ritacca, the judge’s ruling means that there was no probable cause to arrest his client, and any evidence gathered after his arrest cannot be used during the trial, set for Feb. 27.

Prosecutor Robert Money did not say during the hearing whether the state’s attorney’s office would continue to pursue the case against Ditka and could not be reached after the hearing.

Ditka’s brother, Mark Ditka, also of Deerfield, is due in court Feb. 22 for a separate DUI charge. He was charged following a September traffic stop.