Chicago police officer crashes through guardrail, down Kennedy Expressway embankment

The police vehicle went over the overpass and landed on the grassy area of the expressway.

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City workers work to fix damage to a guardrail over the Kennedy Expressway overpass near Foster Ave after a marked police vehicle crashed and went over through the railing falling below onto the express way, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020.

City workers work to fix damage to a guardrail over the Kennedy Expressway overpass near Foster Ave after a marked police vehicle crashed and went over through the railing falling below onto the express way, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

A Chicago police officer was hurt Tuesday morning after driving her squad car off Foster Avenue and down an embankment, shutting down the outbound Kennedy Expressway for several hours.

The officer was responding to assist another officer at 4:40 a.m. when she missed a turn onto the expressway in the 5200 block of North Foster Avenue and drove through a guardrail, Chicago police said in a statement.

The squad car went 25 feet down the grassy median and onto the side of the Kennedy Expressway, where multiple utility poles appeared to be knocked over, according to Chicago Fire Dept. spokesman Larry Langford.

The officer was taken to a hospital in fair condition, Langford said.

The damage to the vehicle was “substantial,” he said.

The outbound lanes were reopened by 9:45 a.m., according to the Illinois Department of Transportation.

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