Rockdale Lieutenant Remains in Hospital After Car Accident

A car accident in this afternoon sent a police officer and a second driver to the hospital.

Lt. Donald Pezzuto was recovering and "doing much better," according to Rockdale Police Chief Robert Dykstra, although when police arrived on the scene, Pezzuto was unconscious.

"I believe he was just knocked out at the time of the accident," Dykstra said. "He had a heartbeat and he was breathing."

Pezzuto was taken to  in Joliet, where his condition was confidential.

Preliminary police investigations showed that the officer was sitting at the light on Meadow, facing east. When the light turned green, he proceeded into the intersection of Meadow and Larkin. A car on Larkin drove through a red light, striking the police car, spinning and hitting a third car. The driver of the car that ran the red light also was taken to the hospital, but her name was not available.

"I'm not sure if charges are pending or if she has been cited," Dykstra said.

 Police Chief Justin Meyer spent about 18 months on the Rockdale Police Department before coming over to Minooka in 2001. He said it is always hard to respond to a call that involves another officer because you don't want to see one of your own hurt and the brotherhood of being a police officer makes it more difficult.

"It definitely is the worst nightmare; the last thing we want to do is have one of us get hurt," Dykstra said.