Southern Ill. officer killed during chase wreck

COWDEN, Ill. -- A police officer was killed and a ride-along passenger injured when their patrol car crashed while chasing a vehicle in southern Illinois' Effingham County.

Cowden Mayor Lorne Barnes says 35-year-old officer Jeremy Hubbard died at a hospital after Tuesday night's accident.

Twenty-two-year-old Jessica Stuckemeyer was riding with Hubbard in preparation for entering the police academy. She was taken to a St. Louis hospital. There's no word on her condition Wednesday.

Officials say Hubbard was a part-time officer assisting Altamont police in chasing a pickup truck without license plates when his car flipped several times into a cornfield, ejecting Hubbard.

Cowden is a 600-resident village in Shelby County about 100 miles east of St. Louis.