Software Engineer Drives 130 MPH, Batters ISP Troopers Twice In A Week

SKOKIE, IL — A Bolingbrook man is accused of attacking state troopers twice in a week following encounters on Interstate 294.

Mohammad Qadry, 37, has been charged with two counts of aggravated battery to a police, among other offenses, in connection with the two incidents, the first of which took place Saturday at a toll plaza in Oak Brook, authorities said.

Illinois State Police troopers dispatched to a call of an erratic driver on the Tollway found Qadry outside of his car, Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Nic Attia said Thursday at Qadry's initial court appearance in Skokie.

"The troopers arrived on scene and observed [Qadry's] vehicle parked in a diagonal position with the driver sitting on the windshield with the door open," Attia said. "There were no other passengers inside the vehicle."

When police asked to see his license, Qadry became aggressive, running around the toll plaza and trying to get into the state police squad car before lying down on the ground, according to the prosecutor.

Before being taken into custody, he grabbed the arresting trooper's tie and and ripped some of the the cop's clothes, Attia said. In addition to the aggravated battery to police charge, Qadry was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol in conjunction with his arrest on Saturday.

Following a bond hearing at the Maywood Courthouse, Qadry posted the $300 cash portion of his bond on Monday ahead of his next court appearance, which was scheduled for Wednesday. But Qadry did not show up to court and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Less than 12 hours later, Qadry would have another run-in with state police on I-294, according to police and prosecutors.

Around 10 p.m. Wednesday, a state trooper spotted Qadry driving 130 mph on the interstate, weaving through traffic in the northbound lanes approaching Touhy Avenue, Attia said.

The ISP trooper managed to catch up to Qadry and pull him over at the Dempster Street east exit, the officer explained in court. The trooper notified Qadry he was under arrest for reckless driving and tried to handcuff him, but Qadry resisted and they struggled on the ground, leaving the officer with scratches and cuts, according to the charges.

In addition to picking up his second felony aggravated battery to a police officer charge in five days, Qadry was charged with the misdemeanor offenses of reckless conduct, resisting arrest and reckless driving and cited for the traffic offenses of speeding, improper lane usage and changing lanes without signaling.

"Barely out of custody on those first allegations and he is then operating his motor vehicle," Cook County Associate Judge Anthony Calabrese said. "Apparently that arresting, charging, detaining and bonding had absolutely no impact on the defendant, perhaps due to the low amount of the bond."

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Qadry is a cloud software engineer and naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Pakistan, according to his court-appointed defense attorney, Assistant Public Defender Greg Kobus, who said Qadry had no money to post for bond but prays regularly and has a supportive community in Bolingbrook.

The judge set the cash portion of Qadry's bond for the new charges at $25,000. He said he believed the earlier $300 cash deposit bond depreciated the seriousness of the offense.

"[Qadry] was, a short period of time later, operating a motor vehicle at 130 miles an hour on an expressway," Calabrese said.

"Over twice the speed limit — just extraordinary — and then he has contact with a uniformed officer, apparently in a marked squad car, and his reaction to the officer is the same as his reaction to the other officer — an individual who's attempting to protect us all by virtue of attempting to stop this extraordinary driving and putting us all at incredible risk," the judge said. "And as a result, the officer is attacked with actual injuries to his neck, knee and hands."

Qadry is due back in court for a preliminary hearing on March 2.