Two squad cars hit in five-car crash on I-355

Two Illinois State Troopers who had stopped at the site of an accident early Wednesday on a west suburban toll road had to sprint out of the way when a cargo van piloted by a sleepy driver crashed into their squad cars.

The troopers’ vehicles were parked — with emergency lights activated — in two southbound lanes of traffic on the Veterans Memorial Tollway in Bolingbrook around Boughton Road and trying to secure the scene of an earlier accident involving three cars and one minor injury when the sleeping driver plowed into the scene about 6 a.m.

“The troopers were extremely fortunate that they were not involved in the crash directly,” said State Police Master Sergeant Paul Carlos.

No one was injured in the secondary crash involving the squad cars, Carlos said. The driver of the cargo van had fallen asleep, he said.

Three of the four lanes were closed as a result of the accident, but reopened at 7:14 a.m., Illinois State Police said.