Feb. 11--A man keeping warm in the back of an Illinois State Police squad car was killed Saturday morning when another car rear-ended it, also injuring the state trooper.
Frank S. Caruso, 42, was taken to Elmhurst Hospital and pronounced dead, State Police Trooper Maria Navarro said. Caruso was recently of Oak Brook Terrace, police said, although the DuPage County coroner's office said the victim was most recently of Brookfield.
His car, a 2005 gray Nissan SUV, was disabled in an accident before 1 a.m. and partially blocking the left lane of eastbound traffic on Interstate 290 near Mill Road in Addison, Master Sgt. Bart Lamb said.
The trooper, in his 20s, was using his car and lights to block two lanes when a 2010 Chevrolet Impala rear-ended the squad car about 1:20 a.m., police said.
The two were waiting for a tow truck.
It's not clear what caused the first accident because the investigating trooper was injured.
He suffered a concussion and was taken to Loyola University Hospital, Lamb said.
The 32-year-old man driving the second car was taken to Alexian Brothers Medical Center, where he was treated and released.
The second driver hasn't been charged or cited with any crimes but the crash is still under investigation, police said.
Angelo Calcagno, Caruso's brother-in-law, said Caruso had called his girlfriend about the car, and she was en route to pick him up when the crash occurred.
Unable to get immediate information from police troopers on scene, Caruso's girlfriend called area hospitals and eventually discovered that he had been transported to Elmhurst.
Caruso was pronounced dead before she could arrive, however, Calcagno said. One of Caruso's sisters then called Calcagno early Saturday morning with the awful news.
"We didn't believe it," Calcagno said. "On the way to the hospital, we couldn't talk, we couldn't say anything. We didn't want to believe it."
The close-knit family has endured a string of emotional highs and lows in recent weeks. Caruso, who is the youngest of six siblings, became a grandfather for the first time about two months ago and quickly grew very attached to his infant grandson.
"He was glowing," Calcagno said. "He couldn't put him down."
From that high, there was heartache when Caruso's father passed away from cancer less than three weeks ago.
"We were celebrating one thing and grieving another," Calcagno said.
On Saturday, Calcagno said the family was trying to reconcile the unexpected death of his handsome, easy-going brother-in-law.
"Frank was just an innocent bystander, waiting in a police car to stay warm," Calcagno said. "Wrong place, wrong time."
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