Illinois State Police say a trooper providing a motorist assist had his squad car struck and was injured Tuesday morning during a crash on I-57 at milepost 87 south of Mt. Vernon.
State Police say the trooper responded to a report of a vehicle that had slid off into the median due to weather conditions. Once on the scene, the Trooper pulled behind the stuck vehicle at the edge of the left lane and activated his emergency lights in order to assist with directing traffic.
While in his squad car, a car driven by 54-year-old Chuong Nguyen of Milledgeville, Georgia crashed into the rear of the squad car. The Trooper was transported via ambulance to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Nguyen and a passenger in the vehicle, 49-year-old Kim N. Tran of Milledgeville, GA escaped injured. The vehicle from the initial motorist assist was not involved.
Nguyen was cited for Failure to Reduce Speed to Avoid a Crash and Failure to Yield to Stationary Emergency Vehicle (the Move Over Law).
All lanes of Interstate 57 southbound were closed for approximately 10 minutes initially and the passing lane remained closed for another 50 minutes for traffic crash investigation and scene clean-up.
Photo: Damaged State Police car from I-57 crash south of Mt. Vernon on Tuesday.
