Kankakee County Sheriff's Deputy Dave Stukenborg was seriously injured in a car accident while responding to one of those phony calls. He has been recovering at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.
Governor Pat Quinn was at the rehab institute Monday to sign the bill. It amends the current law to impose greater penalties on individuals found guilty of making a false 911 call.
"We'd like to thank everybody for getting this passed. Hopefully it will be a deterrent so that in the future, no family has to go through what my family has been through due a false 911 call," said Stukenborg.
The new law passed the Illinois General Assembly unanimously and takes effect January 1, 2011.
