'She Was Doing Her Job': ISP Trooper Hit, Killed On Route 20

FREEPORT, IL — Illinois State Police officials shared a message on Facebook Thursday night, just hours after they said a state trooper was killed when her squad car was struck by a tractor-trailer during a traffic stop Thursday morning in Stephenson County. The message is aimed at "infuriating" comments, regarding opinions of what troopers shouldn't do on the roadway.

"Please stop with the comments that 'Troopers shouldn’t stop vehicles on the shoulder of the road,'" ISP officials wrote. "Put your phone down. Focus on your drive. Pay attention to the road. Move over. Slow down. Drive with caution. Her name was Brooke. She was doing her job and today she paid the ultimate sacrifice."

Brooke Jones-Story, of Stockton, was a 12-year veteran of Illinois State Police District 16, acting director Brendan Kelly announced.

Shortly before 11:30 a.m., Jones-Story had pulled over a commercial vehicle for inspection on westbound Route 20 just west of Route 75 near Freeport, according to Kelly.

Around 12:20 p.m., Jones-Story was outside her squad car when a tractor-trailer hit her vehicle and the the semi truck she was inspecting, fatally wounding the trooper. The truck veered off the roadway and struck the trooper while her squad car's lights were on, Kelly said.

"None of this had to happen. The men and women of this department, especially the troopers and colleagues of Trooper Jones-Story, are sad, hurting, and they're angry. These troopers are just doing their job trying to protect everyone. How many times does this have to happen? How many more have to be hurt or killed? When is enough enough?" Kelly asked. "When are more people going to start giving a damn and just start doing the right thing?"

Jones-Story leaves behind her husband, a retired Illinois State Police master sergeant Robert Story, her sister, her parents, two step-children and a step-grandchild, as well as her farm animals and dogs that she dearly loved, according to Kelly.

"Today, Trooper Jones-Story paid the ultimate sacrifice while protecting and serving the citizens of Illinois. Our law enforcement family is in mourning at the loss of a fallen sister," Kelly told reporters.

Barely 12 weeks into the year, 15 Illinois State Police squad cars have been struck on Illinois roads.

"This is just about people caring what they're doing and paying attention to what they're doing. That's the common denominator," Kelly said. "People are dying because they just don't care."

Jones-Story is the second trooper to be killed in a traffic crash in 2019, after Trooper Christopher Lambert, of Highland Park, was fatally struck Jan. 12 on Interstate 294. A Wisconsin accountant faces reckless homicide charges in connection with the death.

Six years ago to the day, on March 28, 2013, 28-year-old Trooper James Sauter, of Vernon Hills, was killed in the line of duty at nearly the exact same location as Lambert near Northbrook. A truck driver who authorities said fell asleep before the crash pleaded guilty in exchange for a two-year prison sentence.

In March alone, multiple drivers have been charged with drunk driving after crashing into state troopers, including a Wisconsin man who struck a squad car on Interstate 94 and a Channahon resident who injured a trooper and totaled a squad car on Interstate 80, according to ISP.

State police said each incident has resulted from violations of Scott's Law, also known as the "move over" law. The law requires drivers to change lanes if possible and proceed with due caution any time a vehicle has activated its emergency lights on the side of the road. Violators risk a prison sentence.

The investigation into Thursday's deadly crash remains active, Kelly said. The driver of the commercial vehicle is in custody and has already been issued citations for improper lane usage and a violation of Scott's Law, according to the acting ISP director.

“Today is a dark day for the Illinois State Police family. This is the six-year anniversary of the death of another Trooper, and now another brave soul, Trooper Brooke Jones-Story, has made the ultimate sacrifice for people of this state," Kelly said in a statement announcing her death. "At this very moment, the men and women of the ISP are responding and focused on the job and mission, because that’s what Trooper Jones-Story would do."

This is a developing story, more information will be added as it becomes available.

#BREAKING: Traffic is backed up in the westbound lanes of US 20 near the Rt. 75 Freeport exit for a serious crash. Illinois State Police are investigating and we have crews on the way. (Photo: Beth Surrarrer Hitz) pic.twitter.com/Uydo3DW0bT
— Eyewitness News WTVO/WQRF (@MyStateline) March 28, 2019