Authorities: Woman in I-294 crash was on probation for another DUI
A Mount Prospect woman who authorities say was driving drunk Saturday when she struck and injured eight people on the Tri-State Tollway had been sentenced to probation just days earlier on a separate DUI charge.
Leslie W. Thurow, 59, is being held without bond for violating terms of her probation as a result of the crash that critically injured an Illinois state trooper who was conducting a traffic stop on I-294. Authorities say Thurow's car also hit a car carrying seven people.
She faces charges of aggravated leaving the scene of a personal injury crash, aggravated DUI, and aggravated DUI involving personal injury.
Last Thursday, Thurow was in Cook County circuit court in Maywood where she pleaded guilty to aggravated DUI with a blood alcohol content above 0.16, which is twice the legal limit. She was sentenced by Judge Geary Kull to two years of probation.
At 2:46 p.m. Saturday, police say the state trooper was conducting a traffic stop on northbound I-294 near St. Charles Road in Elmhurst, when he was struck by Thurow's Honda. She then continued northbound and hit the other vehicle, an Acura containing a family of seven, causing it to roll over, authorities said.
The trooper, 28-year-old Michael Cokins, suffered injuries to his legs and ribs, and remains hospitalized. He has been on the job for eight months, according to Monique Bond, a spokeswoman for the state police.
Thurow is due back in court Sept. 12.