Drunken driver gets 13 years for hitting Illinois trooper

MAYWOOD, Ill. (AP) - A woman driving without a license because of previous drunken driving offenses who struck and critically injured an Illinois state trooper has been sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Sixty-one-year old Leslie Thurow of Mount Prospect was sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty to aggravated DUI and leaving the scene of an accident with injuries. She said she was sorry for striking Trooper Michael Cokins, who was conducting a traffic stop on Interstate 294 when she struck him two years ago.

Police say Cokins sustained 15 broken bones, underwent eight surgeries and 17 months of therapy. The 30-year-old Cokins returned to work in December 2015 and he returned in June to patrolling the same stretch of interstate where he was hit.