Judge to decide ex-Joliet police officer’s fate in fatal DUI crash case

A judge plans to decide next week whether a former Joliet police officer was impaired and failed to react in a grisly 2020 crash that led to the death of her passenger, who was a Berwyn police officer.

Both parties in the case against former Joliet police officer Erin Zilka, 39, made their final case Friday to Judge Dave Carlson, who must now decide whether Zilka is guilty of aggravated driving under the influence in a crash that killed Berwyn police officer Charles Schauer, 33.

Carlson will weigh whether Zilka was impaired at the time of the crash and whether she failed to react in time to avoid the Jan. 19, 2020, crash on southbound Interstate 55, just before the Route 30 exit in Plainfield.

Carlson may arrive at his decision July 7.

Zilka’s Dodge Durango was the second vehicle to strike Felix Ocampo’s box truck about 6:10 a.m. Jan. 19, 2020.

Ocampo’s vehicle was left without electrical power and straddled the fourth lane and the shoulder lane on I-55. That was the result of the first crash caused by Rodrigo Marin’s pickup truck about 6:02 a.m.

On the issue of impairment, Special Prosecutor Bill Elward said it was evident that Zilka was impaired because of video evidence showing Zilka arriving at Tipsy’s Tap in Berwyn at 12:30 a.m. and drinking there until 5:40 a.m. Jan. 19, 2020, before leaving the bar with an open can of White Claw in her hand.

Police recovered the White Claw can in Zilka’s vehicle, and it had her DNA on it, Elward said.

Zilka and Schauer were at Tipsy’s Tap for a party with other police officers. The bar was only licensed to stay open until 3 a.m. that day, but the bar’s former co-owner, Ottorino Dinardi, acknowledged at trial that there were police officers who were still there drinking later than that.

Elward contends that Zilka consumed at least five White Claws while at the bar.

Elward argued that the evidence pointing to Zilka’s impairment were her attempts to cover up that she had been consuming alcohol before the crash that killed Schauer.

Elward said that Illinois State Police Trooper Michael Trainor saw her chewing gum at the scene, and he said gum can be used to cover up the odor of alcohol. Elward said Zilka asked state Trooper Kevin Wehling for a “favor” by saying she wanted to talk to him “officer to officer,” and “I’m begging you right now.”

Elward said Zilka refused all field sobriety, chemical and blood testing, which led to police seeking a search warrant for a blood draw. That test apparently revealed that Zilka’s blood-alcohol concentration was 0.07%, just under the legal limit, about two hours after the crash, which suggests she was over the limit before the crash.

She knows something. She knows she’s in trouble.”

—  Special Prosecutor Bill Elward

Paramedic Christian Abarca, who didn’t smell alcohol on Zilka, testified that she told him she was drinking a few hours before the crash and that she was driving 50 mph, which Elward said was inaccurate based on the Tipsy’s Tap video and data from her vehicle showing she was traveling up to 68 mph before the crash.

“She knows something. She knows she’s in trouble,” Elward said.

In Zilka’s interactions with Wehling, Elward argued that she was not focused on Schauer’s death but rather on herself and whether she would get cited for driving under the influence when she told him, “You know I deal with this every day, but it’s different when the situation happens like this.”

Zilka’s attorney, Jeff Tomczak, said direct evidence of his client’s impairment was completely missing in the case. He said there were five witnesses – all of them first responders – who testified that they did not see signs that Zilka was intoxicated. He said most of them never smelled the odor of alcohol on her.

“It miraculously kicked in at the hospital, with Trainor,” Tomczak said.

Trainor had testified that he smelled the odor of alcohol on Zilka from 5 feet away.

Tomczak said the odor of alcohol alone is not probable cause that Zilka was intoxicated. He said Elward did not turn over any witnesses from Tipsy’s Tap to testify that she was intoxicated at the bar either. He said that although there was “consumption” at the bar, that does not mean she was intoxicated.

Tomczak also disagreed that Zilka was asking Wehling to give her a break after the crash.

Elward later noted that Wehling kept referring to Zilka by her first name, which he said was “unusual” but did not elaborate further.

On the issue of the crash, Elward said a “broken down truck is foreseeable.”

Elward said contrary to Zilka telling Wehling that there were no lights for her to see on the road, there was Ocampo wearing a florescent heavy jacket and using a pocket flashlight and smartphone flashlight to alert other motorists. He said the headlights from a vehicle would’ve illuminated Ocampo’s jacket.

Ocampo said he did not set out emergency triangles on the road after the crash because he felt it wasn’t safe to do so. Elward said Ocampo would’ve been legally required to do so 10 minutes after the crash involving Marin. Zilka’s crash occurred eight minutes after that crash, he said.

Ocampo said he saw about 20 other drivers avoid his box truck before it was struck by Zilka’s vehicle.

“You want to know why she’s impaired? Because she couldn’t do what 20 other drivers did,” Elward said.

Elward said that Zilka admitted to Wehling that she was familiar with the road.

He knew how dangerous and unforeseeable it was, judge.”

—  Jeff Tomczak, Erin Zilka's attorney

Tomczak said there was no evidence of what lanes those other 20 or so drivers were in and whether they were in the same one as Zilka. He argued that the crash was unavoidable based on the dark conditions and based on Ocampo’s own actions to alert others of his disabled box truck.

“He knew how dangerous and unforeseeable it was, judge,” Tomczak said.

Tomczak contended that the responsibility of Schauer’s death lies with Marin, who was committing his fourth DUI violation when he crashed into Ocampo’s vehicle. Marin abandoned his pickup truck in the road and fled the scene.

Unlike in Zilka’s case, Marin’s DUI violation was not considered by Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow’s Office as the “proximate cause” of Schauer’s death.

Tomczak insisted Zilka’s reaction time was that as a “normal, sober” person based on the findings of an Illinois State Police traffic reconstruction expert. –

Elward mentioned to Carlson in his closing argument Friday Schauer’s father, Charles Henry Schauer, who testified that he worked in law enforcement himself.

“The reason his son died is because of this defendant’s conduct,” said Elward, referring to Zilka.