By Rebecca Johnson
Chicago Tribune
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — An Illinois State Police trooper was killed while on duty in a downstate vehicle crash Friday afternoon.
Trooper Corey Thompson, 28, was fatally injured driving a motorcycle at the intersection of County Road 1300 East and East Leverett Road in downstate Somer Township in Champaign County, state police director Brendan Kelly said in a Saturday statement.
Thompsen, who was finishing a traffic enforcement detail, was traveling east on Leverett Road, approaching 1300 East just before 3:45 p.m. as another motorist, Helen Torres, 32, of Thomasboro, was driving south in a truck approaching the same intersection.
Torres stopped at the intersection but struck Thompsen’s motorcycle as she pulled into the road, according to Kelly. A witness provided aid until paramedics arrived. Thompsen was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:32 p.m., Kelly said. Torres was also taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Torres was cited for failure to yield the right of way at a stop intersection and for having an expired driver’s license, Kelly said.
Thompsen worked as an officer with state police for nearly five years, and was assigned to the Special Operations Group Fatal Four team, Kelly said. He’s survived by his wife Chelsea, mother Susan, father Steve and brothers.
“This is a sad moment. We are hurting. Corey’s brothers and sisters in motor enforcement, Special Operation Group, Troop 7, patrol, the Zone, Vermilion Metropolitan Enforcement Group and across ISP are hurting,” Kelly said in a statement. “Corey’s family is hurting badly today.”
“This is the first, and I hope the last, trooper who I personally administered the oath of an ISP officer to that I’ve lost in a line of duty death. The first and I hope the last trooper who I’ve seen at the beginning of their watch and at the end of their watch,” he added.
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