By Annemarie Mannion
Pioneer Press Newspapers
LA GRANGE, Ill. — A police squad car and an ambulance were damaged in La Grange Friday when they were struck by an alleged drunken driver while police and fire were responding to another accident.
The collision took place at 7:50 p.m. in the 900 block of La Grange Road. La Grange police and the Pleasantview Fire District were responding to another accident when Eli Torres, 30, of the 900 block of Lois Place in Joliet, struck the squad car which then rammed into the ambulance.
Torres’ vehicle flipped on to its side, but he was not injured. No police and fire staff were hurt during the accident, said Sgt. Robert Wardlaw of the La Grange Police Department.
He said Torres was driving south on La Grange Road when he struck the squad car in the median.
Torres was charged with failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, driving under the influence of alcohol, failure to give way for emergency vehicles, transporting alcohol and not having insurance.
The emergency vehicles were hit as police and fire were responding to another accident that occurred at 7:17 p.m. in the northbound lanes of La Grange Road. A driver had been looking down at his radio and struck another vehicle, Wardlaw said. The driver in that accident was transported to La Grange hospital. No charges were filed in that accident.
Wardlaw said he didn’t know how fast Torres was going when he hit the squad car. He said the speed limit in that area of La Grange Road is 35 mph.
He said police are looking into how badly the squad car was damaged.
“It’s pretty extensive. But we’re going to have an auto body shop and the village look into it,” he said.
Fire chief John Buckley of the Pleasantview Fire Protection District said the damage to the ambulance appeared moderate, but the department also will work with an auto body shop to determine how badly.
He said the ambulance is about 14 months old. Ambulances cost about $200,000, he said.
He said the department has another ambulance it will use while the damaged one is out of service.
“We have a reserve ambulance that’s available,” he said. “We have contingency plans.”
Torres was released on bond, Wardlaw said.
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