Ex-Joliet cop on trial in DUI case for deadly wreck that killed Berwyn cop

Felix Ocampo was driving south on Interstate 55 in Plainfield in a box truck in 2020 when he was struck by a pickup truck, setting off a chain of events leading to a second crash that killed an off-duty Berwyn police officer.

It also led to a trial that began Tuesday against former Joliet Police Officer Erin Zilka, 39, who faces a felony charge of aggravated driving under the influence and a traffic citation of failure to reduce speed to avoid a crash.

Charles Schauer, 33, was the Berwyn police officer in Zilka’s Dodge Durango who died in the crash.

It was about 6:02 a.m. Jan. 19, 2020, when Ocampo, a 20-year veteran commercial driver, was struck by the pickup truck driven by Rodrigo Marin in a surprise crash that damaged the battery to Ocampo’s vehicle, leaving it completely without power.

“I was dead in the water,” Ocampo testified on Tuesday.

Marin fled the scene of the crash on the Route 30 exit on I-55. He would later plead guilty to committing his fourth DUI violation in that crash and serve 50% of a four-year prison sentence.

With Marin gone, Ocampo alone was left to rely on a pocket flashlight, a smartphone flashlight and his fluorescent heavy jacket to alert other drivers that his box truck posed a dangerous hazard to them on the highway. However, he didn’t put reflective triangles on the roadway as part of that effort.

After more than 20 vehicles avoided Ocampo’s box truck, the vehicle was struck about 6:10 a.m. by Zilka’s Dodge Durango with a Blue Lives Matter sticker, according to Ocampo’s testimony and video presented in court.

Schauer was the front seat passenger and the impact destroyed that side of the vehicle, resulting in his death.

“I knew this was getting worse every minute,” Ocampo said.

Ocampo’s testimony was part of a case presented by Special Prosecutor William Elward, who has prosecuted at least three cases against police officers in Will County that were dismissed and one other case that resulted in a conviction last year. Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow’s office opted out Zilka’s case because of a conflict of interest.

Elward contends Zilka left Tipsy’s Tap in Berwyn with Schauer at 5:40 a.m. Jan. 19, 2020, after spending the night drinking alcohol, drove south on I-55 and slammed into Ocampo’s box truck at a speed of about 64 to 68 mph.

I knew this was getting worse every minute.”

—  Felix Ocampo, driver of box truck struck by former Joliet Police Officer Erin Zilka

Elward also argued Zilka had an open can of White Claw in her vehicle with her DNA on it and a test found she had blood-alcohol content of 0.077% shortly after 8 a.m. Jan. 19, 2020, almost two hours after the crash. The legal limit in Illinois is 0.08%.

“Our case involves this defendant’s failure to react,” Elward said.

Zilka’s attorney, Jeff Tomczak, contends there is no evidence to show his client was impaired, even at Tipsy’s Tap, because she was not ever seen stumbling or staggering. Tomczak also argued that the site of the crash on I-55 was too dark, the crash was unavoidable and Zilka’s reaction time while she was driving with perfectly normal.

Tomczak said Zilka was confronted with an “unavoidable, terrible” situation.

“She was still able to react as a normal person would,” he said.

The last witness called by Elward on Tuesday was Illinois State Police Officer Michael Trainor, who testified that he suspected Zilka was under the influence of alcohol because he could smell the odor of alcohol on her breath from five feet away.

Trainor said he did not have Zilka perform DUI testing at the crash site because of safety issues and because she was receiving medical treatment. Trainor said he asked Zilka to perform a chemical test at a hospital but she refused.

Zilka waived her right to a jury trial. Her fate will be decided by Will County Judge Dave Carlson, who once worked as a prosecutor under Tomczak, and briefly, Glasgow, his former political opponent, in the early 2000s.

Zilka was initially arrested on a misdemeanor DUI charge over the fatal crash and released from custody on her own recognizance. By contrast, Marin had been held in jail on a $250,000 bond.

Zilka’s driver’s license was initially suspended but that decision was lifted because Elward failed to hold a hearing on a petition to rescind that suspension within 30 days.

It was about 11 months after the crash when Zilka was charged with felony aggravated DUI. No warrant was issued for her arrest.

Zilka resigned from the Joliet Police Department in May 23, 2022, according to Joliet police Sgt. Dwayne English. She had been on paid administrative duty since May 3, 2021, and before then was on paid administrative leave.

Since the crash, Zilka, Marin, Ocampo and others were named in a lawsuit filed in Cook County by plaintiff Jaron Srain, the brother of Schauer’s wife, Jessa Schauer. The lawsuit case remains ongoing.

Elward is expected to rest his case on Thursday and Tomczak may begin his defense of Zilka at that point.

Elward plans to present more evidence, such as a trooper describing his interactions with Zilka after the crash.

Elward argued Zilka was pleading with a trooper and she said, “You know I deal with this every day but it’s different when the situation happens like this.”