Wheeling man gets 57 years for shooting a state trooper

ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill. (AP) — A suburban Chicago man has been sentenced to 57 years in prison for shooting an Illinois state trooper in the arm in 2019 as the officer was serving a warrant at his home.^[1]

Volodymyr Dragan, 46, was sentenced Friday by a Cook County judge after being convicted in March of attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, and aggravated assault.

Prosecutors said Dragan shot a trooper in the arm, causing a non-life-threatening wound, in August 2019 as officers were serving an arrest and search warrant for Dragan at his home in Wheeling.

The warrant included allegations Dragan committed aggravated assault on a police officer during a traffic stop earlier the same day where another state trooper had pulled Dragan's motorcycle over for speeding. Police said Dragan was seated in the back seat of a trooper's squad car when he pulled a handgun and aimed it at the trooper before fleeing the scene on his motorcycle.

Police and SWAT team members tracked Dragan to his home, where he fired at and struck another state trooper in the arm. That trooper, who was 32, has since returned to full duty, authorities said.

The wounded trooper had asked the judge to impose the harshest penalty on Dragan, while Cook County Assistant Public Defender Vincent Colucci sought the minimum sentence, saying his client didn’t intend to kill anyone.

Dragan apologized to the injured trooper and his family during Friday's hearing.

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