Stockton Man Pleads Guilty To Crash That Killed Illinois State Trooper

A Jo Daviess County man has pleaded guilty to reckless homicide in a crash that killed an Illinois state trooper.  57 year old Craig Dittmar of Stockton will appear for sentencing in February in Stephenson County Circuit Court, where he faces three to 14 years imprisonment on the charge, a Class 2 felony. Dittmar also pleaded guilty to operating a commercial motor vehicle while fatigued causing death. Dittmar was arrested in April 2019 in connection with the March 28, 2019, death of 34 year old Trooper Brooke Jones-Story, a graduate of Warren High School. During a traffic stop on Highway 20 north of Freeport, Jones-Story was inspecting a commercial truck she had pulled over on the highway shoulder. Moments later, a semi-tractor trailer driven by Dittmar veered off the roadway striking the squad car, the truck and the trooper. Dittmar did not change lanes to move away from the emergency vehicle as required by law. Dittmar reportedly was extremely fatigued at the time of the crash, making it unsafe for him to begin or to continue to operate the commercial motor vehicle. Dittmar’s sentencing is scheduled for February 3rd.