On early Tuesday, a hair-raising smash-up rattled the Illinois State Police when a Toyota Corolla played bumper cars with a squad car engaged in crash control. The police cruiser was hammered while parked on the interstate, the fuzz barely dodging injuries. The roadway ruckus unfolded on Interstate 294 according to a detailed statement released by the force.
While wrangling a previous smash, the trooper's lights were ablaze like a neon beacon on the southbound side of I-294 near Deerfield Road. The confined concrete caught the Corolla off-guard, causing it to kiss the median wall and then sideswipe the stationary squad car. The driver, identified as 44-year-old Niles resident Joseph W. Allietta, managed to emerge without a scratch. The passenger, however, wasn't so fortunate, landing a ticket to the hospital with injuries that were thankfully non-fatal.
In the wake of the collision, Allietta found himself slapped with citations for a breach of Scott’s Law, named for the move-over mandate that drivers must heed when emergency vehicles flash their warnings. Allietta's disregard for the law ended up earning him an additional citation for not decelerating sufficiently to steer clear of trouble. The state trooper, who was nearly caught in the fray, was outside the car at the time and was lucky to escape the ordeal unharmed.
