St. Louis man charged with Scott’s Law violation in crash that seriously injured trooper
A St. Louis man faces multiple charges after police say he drove his tractor-trailer into an Illinois State Police squad car in March, seriously injuring a 30-year-old trooper.
Kyamran B. Makharadze, 26, was charged with two counts of aggravated driving under the influence, aggravated reckless driving, improper passing of an emergency vehicle (also known as Scott’s Law or the Move Over Law), failure to reduce speed to avoid a crash, driving with expired license plates and overweight on registration in Madison County, a Tuesday news release from ISP District 11 stated.
Makharadze’s bail was set at $150,000, but he posted bond on Aug. 23, the release stated.
On March 20, around 10:54 p.m., an ISP trooper was assisting in the investigation of a car accident on northbound Interstate 55 in Madison County when he was struck by a tractor-trailer. The trooper’s name was not released.
The initial crash, reported at 10:29 p.m., involved a vehicle that left the roadway and struck a light pole. The pole fell across the lanes of traffic and seven additional vehicles struck the downed pole before the trooper arrived. The first ISP squad car arrived at 10:39 p.m. to provide traffic control.
The squad car that would later be struck by Makharadze’s tractor-trailer arrived on scene around 10:42 p.m., the release stated. The trooper had positioned himself away from the scene to slow approaching vehicles before they got to the scene of the downed pole.
The trooper was on foot, outside of his marked squad car with lights activated, when both he and the car were struck by a passing tractor-trailer driven by Makharadze.
The trooper was taken by ambulance to a local hospital with serious, but stable injuries. He is still recovering from injuries and has not returned to duty since, the release stated.
Scott’s Law enforcement
The Illinois State Police said it would increase enforcement time specifically targeted to Scott’s Law, named after Lt. Scott Gillen, who was struck and killed by a drunken driver in 2000 while working a crash scene in Chicago. At least 14 state troopers have been hit in 2019 as a result of Scott’s Law violations and two of the troopers died.
ISP Acting Director Brendan Kelly said during a news conference this spring that “these types of accidents are preventable.”
He said the troopers are doing everything their training has taught them to do, “but people are not paying attention. They are distracted,” Kelly said.
“There’s nothing more important than the life of a trooper.”
This story was originally published August 27, 2019 at 4:23 PM.
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