State trooper severely injured in crash

A Cadillac struck the back of an Illinois State Police squad car on Monday on Interstate 55 in Will County, sending a state trooper to the hospital with serious injuries, authorities said.

At 11:46 a.m., the trooper responded to a two-vehicle crash on northbound I-55 near Route 30. According to a news release from the state police, the trooper pulled the squad car behind the wrecked vehicles in the left lane with the emergency lights on to assist traffic.

The trooper was still in the squad car when a 2010 black Cadillac crashed into the back of it.

The trooper was airlifted to the hospital. The driver of the Cadillac, 20-year-old Angel M. Casillas of Joliet, was taken to the hospital with minor injuries, the news release said.

The vehicles in the initial collision were not involved in the second crash.

Interstate 55 at Route 30 was closed until 3:45 p.m. for the crash investigation.

This crash marks the sixth Scott's Law-related crash involving state troopers in 2021, and the second in two days, the state police said. Scott's Law, named for late Chicago Fire Department Lt. Scott Gillen, requires drivers to slow down and move over, if possible, when approaching a stopped emergency vehicle with its lights on.