Vehicle crashes into police squad car on Illinois 157, injuring Edwardsville officer
An Edwardsville police officer and a passenger in the officer’s squad car were injured on Friday night when another vehicle hit the squad car, according to the Illinois State Police.
Their injuries were described as “non-life-threatening.”
Trooper Melissa Albert-Lopez, an ISP public-information officer, stated in an email Sunday that the crash occurred at 9:13 p.m. Friday in a southbound lane of Illinois 157, near Center Grove Road in Edwardsville.
The email provided the following synopsis of the St. Patrick’s Day incident:
“ISP Troop 8 responded to a report of a two-unit crash with injuries, involving a fully-marked Edwardsville Police Department (EPD) squad car. Unit 2, the EPD squad, was stopped in the left lane with its emergency lights activated handling a previous incident, when Unit 1 struck Unit 2.
“The driver and passenger of Unit 2 were transported to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Unit 1 driver had no reported injuries.”
Albert-Lopez declined to speak with a reporter; identify the police officer, his passenger or the other driver; specify whether charges were filed; or answer other questions about the case.
An Edwardsville police spokesman couldn’t be reached for comment.
The Edwardsville Intelligencer reported that the squad car was rear-ended by a pick-up truck, resulting in significant damage to the squad car, and that both passengers were released from the hospital by Saturday morning.
