Wrong-way driver strikes squad car on I-294, faces charges

A 71-year-old Maywood man is facing multiple charges after he was found driving the wrong way on I-294 Thursday night and struck an Illinois State Police squad car, authorities said.

Otis T. Green has been charged with fleeing and eluding, speeding, improper lane use, driving on the shoulder, leaving the scene of an accident, resisting a peace officer, reckless conduct and reckless driving after the incident that began about 10 p.m. Thursday, state police Master Sgt. Brian McKinney said.

State police received a report of a driver heading north in the southbound lanes of I-294 near North Avenue, McKinney said. When Green approached a line of squad cars blocking southbound traffic to prevent him from crashing into other vehicles, McKinney said the driver accelerated and made a U-turn, striking the front bumper of one of the parked squads.

Green then continued south about eight miles until state police stopped him around Ogden Avenue near Oak Brook and Hinsdale, where he pulled his vehicle over onto the left shoulder. McKinney said Green was found not to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and he was taken to Adventist Hinsdale Hospital.

Green was the only person in the vehicle and no one was injured while he was driving the wrong way or being pursued. McKinney said the squad car Green struck had minor damage to its front bumper.