A man was charged with multiple counts of reckless homicide after causing a crash earlier this month on Interstate 294 near Glenview that left an Illinois state trooper dead.
Scott A. Larson, 61, of Kenosha, Wisconsin, was charged Monday with one count of reckless homicide of a police officer and two counts of reckless homicide involving Scott’s Law, which “requires vehicles to slow down, move over and change lanes if possible, when they are approaching an emergency vehicle, or any vehicle with its hazard lights activated,” according to a statement from Illinois State Police.
About 4:45 p.m. Jan. 12, Trooper Christopher Lambert was standing outside of his patrol car investigating a three-vehicle crash on I-294 near Willow Road when he was struck by Larson’s northbound Jeep, state police said. Prior to the crash, Larson failed to stop or avoid Lambert’s car, which had its emergency lights activated and was parked in the left lane of traffic.
Lambert, a United States Army veteran who worked as a trooper for five years, was taken to Glenbrook Hospital in Glenview and pronounced dead at 7:24 p.m., state police said. He is survived by his wife and 1-year-old daughter.
An autopsy found Lambert died from multiple blunt force injuries related to the crash, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. His death was ruled an accident.
On Thursday, Larson was arrested in Wisconsin by the Kenosha County sheriff’s office on a warrant that charged him with reckless homicide in Lambert’s death, state police said. After Illinois state troopers took Larson into custody on Monday, the Cook County state’s attorney’s office approved the felony charges against him.
Larson is scheduled to appear at a bail hearing Tuesday morning in Skokie.
