A New Jersey truck driver is accused of turning a Tuesday morning run up Interstate 57 into a rolling road-rage spree that ended in a pileup and a beating on Chicago’s South Side. Investigators say the northbound chaos started near 127th Street and stretched to Halsted Street, triggering eight separate crashes before the driver allegedly yanked another motorist from a wrecked car and attacked them. That driver was taken to a nearby hospital, and the trucker is now facing attempted murder and battery charges while being held ahead of a court appearance.
According to an Illinois State Police release, agents from the ISP Division of Criminal Investigation Zone 1 arrested 25-year-old Hassan A. Moutassim of Jersey City after the April 28 chain of crashes. Troopers say Moutassim was behind the wheel of a semi truck and drove it recklessly along the northbound lanes, touching off eight collisions before stopping near Halsted and allegedly assaulting another driver. ISP says troopers took the case to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, which signed off on the charges the following day.
CBS Chicago reports that the semi’s cab was not hauling a trailer at the time, and that troopers arrested Moutassim at the scene. Local accounts cited by the station say the suspect pulled a driver from another crashed vehicle and tried to strangle them, leaving the victim in need of hospital treatment. Northbound lanes were temporarily shut down while investigators documented the crash sites and cleared the wreckage.
Charges And Legal Context
Illinois State Police say Moutassim is charged with Attempted Murder (a Class X felony), Aggravated Battery on a Public Way, and Aggravated Battery-Strangulation after prosecutors reviewed the case. Under Illinois law, trying to commit first-degree murder can be prosecuted as a Class X felony, a category reserved for the state’s most serious non-murder crimes and one that carries significantly longer potential prison terms than lower-level felonies. The relevant state statute spells out how attempted murder can trigger those elevated penalties.
Where Highways And Tempers Collide
The eight wrecks effectively shut down northbound I-57 on Tuesday morning and tangled commutes across the South Side, according to ABC7 Chicago. Police messaging, echoed in local coverage, has been blunt: do not engage with aggressive drivers on the expressways. Recent history backs that warning. Similar confrontations on area interstates have already led to attempted murder charges in other cases, including a separate I-55 incident last April covered by FOX 32 Chicago.
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office has approved the charges, and Moutassim remains in custody awaiting an initial court appearance, according to local outlets. Investigators are still piecing together the full sequence of crashes and are asking anyone who witnessed the incidents or who has dash-cam or cellphone video from that stretch of I-57 to contact Illinois State Police or local detectives, CBS Chicago reports.
