An Illinois cop is facing DUI charges in a crash that killed another police officer who was riding in her SUV, authorities said.
Joliet Police Officer Erin Zilka, 35, was driving on Interstate 55 in Will County early Sunday when her 2019 Dodge Durango slammed into the rear of a box truck involved in an earlier crash, the Chicago Tribune reports.
Berwyn Police Officer Charles Schauer, 33, who was riding with Zilka at the time, was pronounced dead at the scene. Zilka, a 12-year department veteran, was charged with drunken driving and also received a citation for driving too fast for conditions, according to the Illinois State Police.
The officers, who were both off duty at the time, were friends. It’s unclear where they were headed just prior to the fatal wreck, Zilka’s attorney, Jeff Tomczak, told the newspaper.
“She’s totally devastated,” Tomczak said. “I can’t express how distraught she is … just devastated totally.”
Tomzcak said tests indicated that Zilka, of Plainfield, had a blood alcohol content below the state’s legal limit of .08, but he declined to elaborate.
After the crash, Zilka asked a bystander to help her free Schauer from the SUV, the witness told WLS-TV.
“She just said, ‘He’s not moving, he’s not moving, I don’t know what to do, I don’t know what to do,’” Elizabeth Hock recalled. “Well, then she had asked me to try to get the car off of the gentleman. I said I can’t do stuff like that. That’s the fire department’s job.”
Schauer, a 10-year veteran cop, was a “well-respected” member of the Berwyn police, department officials said in a statement.
In addition to a state police investigation, police in Joliet have launched an internal probe into the crash, WLS-TV reports.
Zilka, whose initial bond hearing had been set for Monday, will return to court at a later date, Tomczak told the Tribune. She has been released after posting bond, WLS-TV reports.
One of the officer’s neighbors, meanwhile, said she was stunned to learn of the allegations Zilka now faces.
“She’s a great neighbor,” Plainfield resident Erin Walter told WGN-TV. “I was shocked to hear the news. She’s a great person.”