COOK COUNTY, Ill. (WTVO) — The Illinois State Police said suspects in a stolen black Dodge Charger slammed into a trooper’s squad car on I-94 Thursday, and then got away.
According to ISP, around 10:02 p.m., a trooper was attempting to make a traffic stop on the Charger at King Drive when the driver fled into the right shoulder, slamming into the rear of another ISP squad car that was parked, with its lights on, investigating another traffic stop.
The officer was inside the squad car at the time, authorities said, but refused medical attention.
The Charger flipped over upon impact and three occupants got out and ran, but none were apprehended, police said.
So far in 2023, state police have recorded 16 crashes that violated the state’s “Scott’s Law” or Move Over Law, which requires drivers to slow down and move into an adjacent lane when approaching any emergency vehicle with its lights on.
Anyone convicted of a Move Over Law violation faces a $250-$10,000 fine for a first offense. If the crash results in injury to another person, the violator’s driver’s license will be suspended for up to two years.
According to the Highway Loss Data Institute, the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat and the Dodge Charger HEMI
are the most stolen cars in the country by a long shot, with the SRT Hellcat 60 times more likely to be stolen than average 2020-22 models, while the Charger HEMI was stolen more than 20 times the average.
The two cars feature large, powerful engines and have been cited as the most stolen vehicles since 2011, but that number has been rising.
“If you own a Hellcat, you better check your driveway,” Matt Moore HLDI senior vice president said in a statement on the institute’s website. “These numbers are unbelievable.”
For 2020-22 Charger SRT Hellcat models, there were 25 whole-vehicle theft claims per 1,000 insured vehicles, up from about 18 for 2019-21 models, HLDI reported. For comparison, the most-stolen 2017-19 model, the Infiniti Q60, had only 2 thefts per 1,000 insured vehicles.