Joliet man may face new charges over I-55 crash that injured state trooper

Prosecutors may file new charges against a Joliet man who police said seriously injured an Illinois State Police trooper in a crash on Interstate 55, court records show.

On Friday, Judge Chrystel Gavlin granted a motion from Will County Assistant State’s Attorney Donna Hanson to drop three traffic citations against Angel Casillas, 20, of the 600 block of Jasper Street in light of an ongoing investigation of the Feb. 15 crash that left Illinois State Police Trooper Brian Frank hospitalized.

“The Illinois State Police are conducting a traffic crash reconstruction, which will not be complete for several months,” Hanson’s motion said. “Appropriate charges will be determined once all the evidence is complete.”

Hanson’s motion was granted over the objection of Casillas’ attorney, Anthony Tomkiewicz, who told Gavlin that a speedy trial demand had already been filed. Tomkiewicz works for the same law firm as attorney Cosmo Tedone, who already filed his appearance to represent Casillas.

Casillas did not appear in court on Friday.

Casillas was initially cited for driving too fast for conditions or failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, failure to yield to emergency vehicles and following too closely, court records show.

The citations said the visibility was clear on Feb. 15 and that the road conditions were “snow or slush.”

When asked if prosecutors plan to file felony charges, Will County State’s Attorney spokeswoman Carole Cheney said the matter is under investigation and “any charging decisions will be made after investigations have been completed and evidence reviewed.”

Frank’s squad car was struck shortly before noon on I-55 near Route 30, Illinois State Police said.

Frank had “responded to a traffic crash that occurred near the above location” and “pulled behind the wrecked vehicles in the left lane and had the (squad car’s) emergency lights activated in order to assist with directing traffic to the right,” police said.

Frank was sitting inside the parked squad car when a 2010 Cadillac SUV rammed the back of his vehicle, police said. Frank was “airlifted to a local area hospital with serious injuries,” police said.

Casillas was “also transported to an area hospital with minor injuries,” police said.

A GoFundMe was established for Frank that has exceeded its $100,000 goal. As of Friday, $104,000 was raised for Frank and his wife, Lauren Frank.

Frank suffered serious brain injuries when his squad vehicle was rear-ended and there was an “immense amount of swelling to the head, which was responded to immediately with surgery upon arrival at hospital,” the GoFundMe said.

Brian Frank remains hospitalized, according to a blog called 4th Path — Brian Frank Strong, which is tracking his medical progress. An entry posted on Thursday noted that his doctors “feel good that he’s holding his progress.”