- The Washington Times - Wednesday, April 13, 2016

An Illinois State Police trooper on Monday pleaded guilty to misdemeanor driving under the influence in connection with an August 2015 incident during which he was caught with a bottle of liquor in his squad car.

Trooper Paul Zurn, 34, took a plea deal of one year of supervised release offered by Kane County prosecutors, and Judge Robert Morrow accepted it, the state’s attorney’s office said.

Zurn was responding to a traffic crash last August on Interstate 88 in Aurora when he “was observed by other troopers to be unsteady on his feet, and a bottle containing alcoholic liquor was found in his squad car,” prosecutors said. His driver’s license was subsequently suspended when he refused to submit to a Breathalyzer test, and he was placed on unpaid administrative leave in October while the Illinois State Police conduct an internal investigation.

“ISP Troopers are entrusted to uphold the law and as such, must be held to the highest standards of personal conduct on and off duty,” State Police Director Leo Schmitz said in a statement.

“The actions of a single officer do not reflect on the outstanding, selfless work by the men and women of the ISP who risk their lives daily to protect the motoring public,” he said.

Zurn joined the ISP in 2008, according to the Chicago Tribune. In addition to being subjected to 12 months of court supervision, he has also been ordered to undergo alcohol treatment, pay $2,185 in costs and fines and attend a victim impact panel, the newspaper reported.

• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.

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