Felony charges filed against Joliet cop 11 months after deadly wreck

A Joliet cop free on her own recognizance and permitted to drive 11 months after a horrific car crash that claimed the life of her passenger now faces three felony charges of aggravated driving under the influence.

Prior to Wednesday, officer Erin Zilka, 36, was only charged with a single count of misdemeanor DUI in connection with the January 19 deadly wreck on Interstate 55 north of Route 30.

Zilka was off duty when her Dodge Durango drove into a disabled box truck stopped on I-55, police said.

Berwyn police officer Charles Schauer, 33, who was also off duty, was riding in the passenger seat of the Durango, police said. Schauer was pronounced dead at the scene of the wreck, according to officials.

The box truck that was blocking the road was involved in an earlier collision with a Nissan Titan pickup, police said.

The driver of the pickup, Rodrigo Marin, 43, fled the scene after that wreck and before Zilka crashed into the box truck, police said.

Marin, a Plainfield resident, was later arrested and charged with aggravated driving under the influence, driving on a revoked or suspended license, and leaving the scene of an accident.

Unlike Zilka, Marin was not released on his own recognizance. He was jailed and his bond was set at $250,000.

Marin was freed after posting 10% of the $250,000 a month later, but was then arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents because he was in the country illegally, an ICE spokeswoman said.

Marin returned to the Will County jail March 20, records show.

Marin appeared before an immigration judge after his ICE arrest and requested voluntary deportation after he was denied bail, according to Will County Assistant State’s Attorney Colleen Griffin’s motion.

Under voluntary removal, ICE agents would take Marin to an airplane for deportation within seven to 14 days of the request, Griffin’s motion said. The motion asked Will County Judge Dave Carlson to approve a warrant for Marin before his deportation.

Carlson approved the emergency motion to have Marin taken from ICE custody and held at the jail before he could be deported.

Marin was not granted a bond. He was scheduled to next return to court in February.

Zilka lost her license to a summary suspension after she was arrested. A summary suspension is issued when a driver refuses to submit to chemical testing, if chemical testing reveals a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% or higher, or if testing reveals any trace of drugs.

Zilka refused to submit to alcohol testing after she was taken to AMITA Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, according to an Illinois State Police report.

“The reconstruction of the crash involves many factors which are still be investigated and reconstructed. A final report for this crash may not be released for months from now due to the complexities of the events regarding this case,” state police said in March in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

Special prosecutor Bill Elward, of the State’s Attorney’s Appellate Prosecutor’s Office, was assigned to Zilka’s case.

In March, Elward said in a letter to state police regarding the FOIA request that his office was working with state police “to determine the appropriate charges in this traffic fatality.”