A Chicago woman already on court supervision for her second DUI, and driving on a license suspended for a prior DUI, is accused of seriously injuring an Illinois State Police trooper in a West Side crash. Prosecutors say her blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit at the time.
Nadalie Ortner, 38, was driving west on Jackson Boulevard around 4:14 a.m. on March 30 when she collided with the trooper’s squad car at the intersection of Jackson Boulevard and Homan Avenue, leaving the trooper with a concussion and two broken bones in his lower right leg, according to a detention filing.
The trooper had been assisting Chicago police in searching for a vehicle and was traveling north on Homan Avenue when he activated his emergency lights and prepared to drive through a red light to head west on Jackson Boulevard, prosecutors said. Not seeing any oncoming vehicles, the trooper pulled into the intersection and immediately steered left to avoid Ortner’s car. Instead, he struck her right front passenger side, disabling both vehicles, prosecutors said.
The trooper’s head hit the squad car dashboard with enough force to dislodge the dashcam, according to prosecutors. Despite his injuries, the trooper radioed for help and got out of his vehicle to try to assist Ortner, prosecutors said. Dashcam video shows him bleeding from the head and limping, according to the filing.
Other troopers who arrived at the scene found Ortner in the driver’s seat of her car with the airbags deployed and an open bottle of Modelo in the driver’s side door, prosecutors said. A firearm was found on the driver’s side floorboard, and two passengers were also in the vehicle, according to the filing. Troopers reported that Ortner had slurred speech and bloodshot eyes, and that she fell to the ground after being removed from the driver’s seat.
The trooper, Ortner, and her two passengers were all taken to hospitals for treatment. A blood draw during treatment showed Ortner’s blood alcohol level was .185, more than twice the legal limit for driving, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Ortner admitted to drinking the night before at her child’s birthday party. She has two previous DUI convictions, and her license was suspended due to a prior DUI, prosecutors said. At the time of the crash, she was on court supervision for a DUI case, according to the filing.
Judge Robert Kuzas ordered Ortner detained. She faces nine counts of DUI, including multiple counts of DUI causing bodily harm.
