Drunk Joliet Motorist Plows Into Illinois State Police Car: Cops

JOLIET, IL — Liem Nguyen, a 36-year-old Joliet man, is now behind bars at the Will County Jail after he crashed into an Illinois State Police trooper's car along southbound Interstate 55 early Sunday morning while under the influence of alcohol, police said.

The injured state trooper was taken by ambulance to an area hospital with minor injuries, police said. The crash happened around 1:25 a.m. near Route 126.

At the time, the Illinois State Police trooper had his lights flashing to assist with directing traffic of southbound I-55 motorists onto Route 126 in Plainfield while state police were investigating a crash near milepost 260.

"While the trooper was in his squad car, a 2017 black Acura crashed head on into the Trooper’s squad car causing injury to the trooper,"the Illinois State Police announced on Sunday morning. "The Trooper was transported to a local area hospital with minor injuries. The driver of the Acura, 36-year-old Liem T. Nguyen from Joliet was charged with a violation of Scott’s Law and Driving Under the Influence."

Illinois State Police noted that anyone who violates Scott’s Law, commits a business offense and faces a fine of no less than $250 or more than $10,000 for a first offense. If the violation results in injury to another person, the violator’s driver’s license will be suspended for a mandatory period of anywhere between six months and two years.

So far this year, there have been 21 ISP squad cars struck in relation to Scott’s Law and 13 troopers have sustained injuries from Scott’s Law-related crashes. When approaching an emergency vehicle, or any vehicle with their emergency or hazard lights activated, drivers are required to slow down and move over.