Man pleads guilty in death of Illinois officer

PONTIAC - A South Carolina man has pleaded guilty in a vehicle crash that killed an on-duty Pontiac officer and his police dog last year.

The (Bloomington) Pantagraph reports Jason Collins of West Columbia, South Carolina, entered the plea Tuesday to charges of reckless homicide and aggravated drunken driving in the October 2013 crash near Pontiac.

Twenty-nine-year-old officer Casey Kohlmeier and his dog, Draco, were killed when Collin's vehicle crashed into Kohlmeier's SUV that was parked on an interstate median.

Collins faces 14 years on the aggravated DUI charges when he is sentenced in October.

His lawyer says the plea wasn't the result of any agreement with the state. He says Collins is "very remorseful."

A civil lawsuit filed by the officer's parents is still pending.