For 2nd time today, Higgins Road shut down in crash

A Cook County Forest Preserve District police squad car was struck by a vehicle while the officer inside it was assisting another driver whose car had broken down near Elk Grove Village.

Officer Andrew Chomar was taken by ambulance to Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village to be checked for neck and back pain and a possible concussion, forest preserve spokesman Steve Mayberry said.

Chomar was stopped behind the disabled car in the right lane of westbound Higgins Road near Route 53 at about 6:45 p.m. He had his emergency lights on and was inside the squad car when it was struck on the side and rear by another motorist, Mayberry said.

There was no immediate indication that the driver was under the influence but there was indication he might have been speeding, authorities said. Illinois State Police are handling the investigation.

Neither of the other motorists were injured and the disabled car was not damaged.

Westbound Higgins Road from Arlington Heights Road in Elk Grove Village was briefly shut down after the crash but was reopen by 8 p.m.

The accident occurred about three hours after a separate crash involving a car and a teen bicyclist that shut down a separate stretch of Higgins Road farther west in Schaumburg.