A mother of four who’d drank as many as a half-dozen tequila shots before driving her van into a parked state police squad car on Interstate 355 and injuring a trooper was sentenced Monday to a year in prison.
Natahsa Mister, 31, of Maywood, tearfully apologized for the crash and said she would do anything to make the situation better.
"I’m sorry, I never meant to hurt anyone," she told DuPage County Judge Brian Telander.
Authorities estimate Mister was driving her minivan about 65 mph when she struck the trooper’s squad car, which was parked along the right shoulder of I-355 near Army Trail Road in Addison about 12:45 a.m. Aug. 28, 2016.
Mister pleaded guilty in December to a felony count of aggravated driving under the influence.
The trooper was on the scene waiting for a tow truck to take away a car whose driver has been stopped for suspected drunken driving. The officer had activated his emergency lights, and the tow truck also had emergency lights activated.
Woman who injured state trooper in I-355 crash pleads guilty to DUI Clifford Ward
A Maywood woman pleaded guilty Thursday to felony drunken driving for hitting a parked Illinois State Police squad car in August along Interstate 355 in DuPage County, a collision that injured the officer inside the vehicle.
Natasha E. Mister, 31, entered a guilty plea in DuPage County court to…
A Maywood woman pleaded guilty Thursday to felony drunken driving for hitting a parked Illinois State Police squad car in August along Interstate 355 in DuPage County, a collision that injured the officer inside the vehicle.
Natasha E. Mister, 31, entered a guilty plea in DuPage County court to…
(Clifford Ward)
Video taken from the squad car’s camera was played in court. Since it was a rear-end collision, the camera showed the squad suddenly lurching forward and then down into a ditch alongside the highway. The officer said he banged his head forcefully on the steering wheel, resulting in a black eye and a concussion.
The recording captured some conversation between the officer, who departed his vehicle, and Mister. The officer asked Mister if she had been drinking.
"Just a little — a couple shots," she said. "Are you OK?"
The officer replies, "I’m still walking, so …"
Later, Mister tells the officer she felt she was sober enough to drive.
"I was OK, but I didn’t see you," she tells the trooper.
Officials allege woman was driving drunk when vehicle hit squad car on I-355 Clifford Ward
A Maywood woman has been charged with aggravated DUI after she allegedly struck a parked Illinois State Police vehicle early Sunday and injured the trooper who was inside, according to police and DuPage County officials.
Natasha Mister, 31, of the 1000 block of South 14th Avenue, was ordered held…
A Maywood woman has been charged with aggravated DUI after she allegedly struck a parked Illinois State Police vehicle early Sunday and injured the trooper who was inside, according to police and DuPage County officials.
Natasha Mister, 31, of the 1000 block of South 14th Avenue, was ordered held…
(Clifford Ward)
Also during the conversation, Mister admits she does not have any insurance. When the trooper asks her why, she replies, "because I’m poor."
The trooper, who was in court but declined to comment afterward, wrote in his victim impact statement that he had suffered ongoing migraine headaches as a result of the accident, and that he thinks about the crash on a daily basis.
Assistant State’s Attorney Enza LaMonica asked for a three-year sentence and said that Mister eventually admitted to consuming as many as six shots, and was "drunk as a skunk and driving like a maniac." Mister’s blood alcohol content was reported at 0.126 percent, about 1 1/2 times the legal limit.
"But for a miracle that night, she could have killed the trooper," LaMonica said.
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Mister, who worked as a certified nursing assistant, has only minor past criminal offenses, the judge noted, and a person in a similar situation would likely receive probation. But Telander said some prison time was necessary because of the importance of protecting police officers.
Mister has spent 163 days in custody, and that time will be credited against her prison sentence.
Clifford Ward is a freelance reporter.
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