Off-Duty Joliet Police Officer Crashes Man's Cybertruck Into Townhouse, Gun Found In Tesla

JOLIET, IL — Off-duty Joliet police officer Kristen Ames was given a traffic ticket by her colleagues at the Joliet Police Department who responded to last weekend's crash in which Ames lost control of another man's 2024 Tesla Cybertruck and plowed into the Wexford Subdivision townhouse of Linda Sowder, causing substantial damage, according to the crash report.

The wreck around 8:30 p.m. Saturday, at the corner of Tyler Drive and North Addleman Street on Joliet's west side, may have destroyed the Tesla Cybertruck, according to Joliet's traffic crash report.

During Thursday's exclusive interview inside her damaged townhome, Sowder told Joliet Patch that she wants the Will County State's Attorney Office to bring in an outside police agency such as the Will County Sheriff's Office or the Illinois State Police to investigate the collision and the events leading up to it. Sowder has lived at her townhome in the Wexford Subdivision for the past 25 years.

"I want an outside investigation for her and any others to be held accountable for their actions," Sowder said. "Honest to God, she had to be flying to take my balcony porch out. She called the guy whose truck it was, and he came over. From what I hear, there was a party she was at.

"I came home. But by the time I got here, it was about 10:15 p.m. and she (was) gone."

Joliet Police Detective Sgt. Tizoc Landeros, serving as his agency's spokesperson on Thursday, told Joliet Patch it was a simple accident, and there is no internal affairs investigation underway involving Officer Ames.

He said Ames remains on regular duty this week and is not the target of any disciplinary action.

Landeros said he did not know where the off-duty officer was coming from at the time of her crash.

Several people in the Wexford Subdivision reached out to Joliet Patch this week after the Joliet police had not put forth any information in regard to the Tesla Cybertruck wreck involving one of their off-duty police officers.

"It seemed like a shady situation with her being an off-duty cop and not being the owner of the Cybertruck she crashed into the home," one of the neighbors wrote Patch. "And, there was a gun found in the vehicle and a FOID transfer on scene."

Sowder told Joliet Patch she believes the Joliet Police Department did not conduct a thorough and proper crash investigation.

The crash report showed that Ames, 26, was driving a man's Tesla, accompanied by a female passenger of a similar age to her. The owner of the Tesla was not in his vehicle, but he kept a gun inside the Tesla, the crash report noted. The crash report does not list the Tesla gun owner's identity, but it lists the vehicle as being owned by Bempah Holdings LLC.

According to Sowder, it's a Chicago suburban real estate company based in Naperville.

As for Sowder, she was working at her bartending job in Naperville, when her townhome was damaged. She told Joliet Patch that her fellow neighbors went outside because it sounded like an explosion.

"Someone crashed into your house with a Cybertruck, and ... the whole porch is gone, so is your air conditioner," Sowder said she was told. "The only reason she came to a stop is the concrete steps.

"Why was it so important to get her out of here so fast?" Sowder asked. "She didn't talk to any of my neighbors, and the head of the homeowners association."

A resident of Joliet, Ames has been on the Joliet Police Department for nearly a year.

The ticket she received for Saturday night's crash stated she was driving too fast for conditions or failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident. The ticket was issued by fellow officer Joshua White, who, like Ames, also became a first-year Joliet police officer in 2024.

Joliet's crash report indicates Ames was driving the Tesla Cybertruck northbound on Addleman Street approaching the intersection with Tyler Street, and she stated she was unable to slow down and continued northbound off the roadway.

The report indicated the Tesla was found resting in the backyard of 3563 Tyler Street. After the Tesla had struck the Home Owners Association sign and continued north, it then struck the west side of the building, causing major damage to both the sign and the building, the report said. No victims were found inside the townhouse.

A building inspector and Tri County Board-Up responded, and the building was deemed to be structurally sound. Joliet Police Sgt. David Wall was on scene and took photos of the damage.

A gun belonging to the Tesla's registered owner was found inside the Tesla, locked, in the center console, the crash report indicated. The gun was given to a 45-year-old woman who had a valid CCL/FOID with permission from its owner, the Joliet police noted.

"I observed major damage to most of Unit 1," the crash report noted. "Unit 1 driver and passenger both refused medical attention."

As for Ames, the Joliet Police Department announced her hiring last July when she was introduced as one of 10 new hires in the latest recruiting class. According to her bio, she had played softball at Eastern Illinois University, where she studied mathematics. She grew up in Joliet and graduated from Joliet West.

Will County court records indicate that in addition to last week's ticket for driving too fast for conditions, Ames pleaded guilty in Will County court to speeding 90 mph in a 70-mph zone on Interstate 55 in November 2019.