IL Officer Hit at Stop Light Eligible for Disability Benefits, Court Rules

Ever since a Shiloh, IL, police officer was injured when another car hit him while sitting in his squad car, the village of Shiloh and the officer have been battling over whether he was injured in the line of duty, reports the Belleville News-Democrat .

Officer David Martin suffered cervical spine injuries in his back and neck in May 2012 while on duty when a car rear-ended the unmarked squad car he was a passenger in at a stop light, according to the appellate court decision that came down Nov. 29. Martin ended up with permanent disabilities that prevented him from returning to the field, which neither party disputes.

However, the Board of Trustees of the police pension fund of Shiloh maintained that Martin did not have a line-of-duty injury, which under the Illinois pension code is considered to be an injury suffered while on an assignment approved by the chief of police. At the time of the injury, Martin was returning from the St. Clair County courthouse where he got copies of subpoenas for an investigation and filed traffic tickets and other citations, according to the appellate court decision.

Because Martin was injured while performing his duties as a detective and had to direct his attention toward "being prepared to deal with any eventuality" from his squad car, he was injured in the line of duty, according to the appellate court.