Trooper with bruised heart released from hospital

Font Size:

By Dustin Lemmon | Monday, October 13, 2008 3:59 PM CDT | () comments

An Illinois State Police trooper injured in a crash Friday was released from the hospital but is still recovering from a bruised heart.

Trooper Darrell Scruggs, of District 7 in East Moline, was injured Friday evening when a car collided with his squad car on Interstate 74 at mile marker 35, three miles south of Woodhull.

Scruggs was treated at St. Mary Medical Center in Galesburg and was released Monday, Trooper Jason Wilson said. He is expected to make a full recovery, but it was not known when he’ll return to duty, Wilson added.

Wilson said doctors used an electrocardiogram Monday to find out Scruggs’ heart was bruised. He also suffered bruising to an arm and knee, and his neck and back are sore, the trooper added.

The accident happened while Scrugg’s squad car was parked in the right lane to protect workers who were recovering a semi-truck that crashed earlier that day. Scruggs had activated the emergency lights on the squad with the left-arrow stick signaling approaching traffic to move to the left lane while passing the recovery scene.

Megan E. Talbot, 20, of Colona, Ill., was driving a Ford Taurus that struck the rear of the squad car, which was pushed into the left lane, where it struck a Chrysler Sebring.

Talbot was released from the hospital Friday and was cited for failure to reduce speed to avoid a crash and failure to yield to a stationary authorized emergency vehicle, commonly known as the “Move Over Law.”

The law, which is designed to protect law-enforcement officials and emergency workers, requires drivers move over and slow down for any vehicle that displays activated flashing lights. A violation of the law can carry fines up to $10,000 and a driver’s license suspension of two years.

Scruggs has been with the department for more than a year, Wilson said.

Dustin Lemmon can be contacted at (563) 383-2493 or dlemmon@qctimes.com.