Accountant Pleads Not Guilty To State Trooper's Reckless Homicide

SKOKIE, IL — A Wisconsin man pleaded not guilty Monday to recklessly killing an Illinois state trooper in January as he helped motorists at the scene of a crash site on Interstate 294 near Willow Road in Northbrook.

Scott Larsen, 61, of the 3200 block of Market Lane, Kenosha, was indicted last month in charges of reckless homicide of a police officer and in violation of Scott's Law, each are class 2 felonies. He faces a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison if found guilty.

Trooper Christopher Lambert, 34, an Ohio native, U.S. Army veteran and Highland Park resident, was on his way home around 4:45 p.m. on a snowy Jan. 29 when he came upon the scene of a multi-car accident on northbound I-294, according to state police and Cook County prosecutors.

Lambert stopped to offer aid, parked his squad car behind the crash scene and turned on his emergency lights, according to prosecutors. They said another chain reaction crash took place after Lambert stopped, and another driver stopped to offer dashboard-mounted video of one of the collisions.

But Larsen, an accountant with a 2016 felony DUI conviction, drove onto the left shoulder to try to get around the accident scene, prosecutors said, striking Lambert as he did so. The trooper was pronounced dead less than three hours later, according to police.

Larsen was driving a black Jeep Cherokee with a single passenger and stopped at the scene after striking the trooper, according to his lawyer and state police. Police later found a marijuana "vape pen" in Larsen's car, and he admitted consuming THC the night prior to the crash, according to prosecutors.

Larsen said nothing during Monday's hearing in Skokie where he entered a not guilty plea, the Chicago Tribune reported. His lawyer has previously described the incident as a tragic accident.

Scott's law, also known as the "Move Over Law," is named after Scott Gillen, a Chicago Fire Department lieutenant who was killed in December 2000 after a Indiana man with a blood alcohol concentration of nearly twice the legal limit pinned him against a firetruck. The law mandates that drivers slow down and change lanes away from stopped emergency vehicles with their lights when safe to do so.

Former ISP Director Leo Schmitz said Lambert "deliberately placed his vehicle in a position to protect the lives of the victims of the previous crash and took on the danger himself." He said the trooper would be remembered for making the ultimate sacrifice, calling his death a "tremendous loss which could have been prevented and should have never happened." Hundreds of members of law enforcement from across the country attended Lambert's funeral.

Earlier: Wisconsin Accountant Killed Illinois State Trooper While Recklessly Passing Accident Scene On Shoulder, Prosecutors Say