Man says he rammed a Fairview squad car because he doesn’t like police officers

A man driving a sports car rammed into a Fairview Heights police officer’s patrol car Wednesday and he told the officer he did it because “he does not like police officers.”

The collision forced the squad car into another vehicle that the officer pulled over on Old Collinsville Road just south of Frank Scott Parkway for having a license plate sticker that had expired five years ago, according to a police department news release.

No one was injured in the chain-reaction collision.

When the officer was walking up to the passenger side of the vehicle with the expired sticker at about 9 a.m., a 2018 Chevrolet Camaro struck the rear of the squad car, which had its emergency lights activated.

“The driver of the Camaro quickly exited and approached the officer who had his body camera activated,” according to the news release. “The driver admitted he had consumed alcohol and ‘weed gummies.’ He then volunteered he purposely drove into the police vehicle because he does not like police officers.”

The suspect was arrested but his name has not been released.

“The two occupants of the original vehicle were not injured and were given a warning for the expired license plate,” the news release stated. “The officer was only not injured because he was not inside his police vehicle at the time of the crash.”

Illinois State Police agents were called to investigate the crash, which was recorded on video.

The state agency said in a news release that the case remains under investigation and did not have any additional information to release.