GREEN OAKS, IL — The driver authorities said hit Illinois State Trooper Gerald Ellis’ squad car, killing Ellis, while driving the wrong way on I-94 near the IL-176 exit in Libertyville Saturday morning did not have a driver’s license, authorities told NBC Chicago. The Illinois Secretary of State’s Office said they can’t find any evidence Dan Davies, 44, of Calumet City, ever received a driver’s license. However, Davies, who authorities say had one of the worst driving records in the state of Illinois, did receive more than 70 tickets and “suspensions,” and he was stopped by police dozens of times, repeatedly cited for driving without a license, according to the news report.
Davies was also arrested twice for drunk driving, which in addition to the suspensions would have made it even harder for him to obtain a driver’s license. Since his first citation for driving without a license in 1996, records NBC Chicago obtained show Davies’ had received 71 tickets during 25 traffic stops, and that he was also charged in 22 other criminal cases, including domestic battery, battery on a police officer, assault, drug possession, and drug dealing. Davies was found guilty in seven of those cases, but served only 53 days in jail.
“This case is outrageous,” Dave Druker, spokesman for Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, told NBC. “It’s a tragedy.”
Davies was convicted of DUI in Cook County in 2010 and was most recently arrested for DUI in November of last year. CBS Chicago said he hasn’t had a valid license since 1996.
The Secretary of State’s office had placed Davies under revocation following his November DUI arrest, according to NBC, which would have required him to go to an administrative hearing if he wanted to obtain another license in Illinois. However, the drunk driving case was transferred to Cook County Criminal Court, and he wasn’t sent to jail, the news report claims.
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Davies was the only occupant of the car that was reportedly going the wrong way when it struck Trooper Ellis’ vehicle head-on early Saturday morning, officials said.
Dr. Howard Cooper, Lake County Coroner, said: “The preliminary autopsy results indicate he died from multiple injuries due to a motor vehicle crash. Toxicology is pending.”
Cooper added that the investigations into Davies’ and Ellis’ deaths are ongoing by the coroner’s office and the Illinois State Police.
Ellis was assigned to ISP District 15 in Downers Grove and was an 11-year veteran of the department. He leaves behind a wife, two children, a brother and his parents. Ellis was also a veteran of the United States military.
Patch will continue to update this story as information becomes available.
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