Joliet Police Officer Charged with DUI Cleared to Drive

A 36-year-old off duty Joliet Police Officer charged with DUI in connection to a crash on Interstate 55 last January that killed her passenger, was back in Will County Court on Wednesday morning. Erin Zilka was cleared to drive in a Will County Courtroom during a routine status hearing earlier in the day. Zilka was charged with DUI after allegedly driving her vehicle into a truck that had been disabled on I-55 and Rt. 30. That accident left the passenger 33-year-old Charles Schauer, an off duty Berwyn Police Officer, dead. The original crash that disabled the box truck was caused by another drunk driver. A 42-year old Plainfield man has been charged in connection with that first accident. WJOL has learned the driver of that vehicle is Rodrigo Marin of Plainfield. Marin is facing charges of aggravated driving under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident.

Zilka has been on paid leave from the Joliet Police Department since the accident in January.