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State Trooper Pulls Over Tony Stewart; Tweets, Then Removes Photo

CHICAGO (CBS) -- An Illinois state trooper created a bit of a firestorm when he tweeted a picture with racecar driver Tony Stewart, after he pulled over the NASCAR star on Saturday in DeKalb.

Trooper Damein Cunningham shared the photo, which appears to be a selfie taken by Stewart as the trooper is leaning against Stewart's driver's side window.

Cunningham's post included the message "Just pulled over NASCAR LEGEND Tony Stewart on I-88 in DeKalb, IL, what you think I got him for?#NASCAR #ISP"

Trooper Tony Stewart
Illinois State Police trooper poses for a selfie with NASCAR driver Tony Stewart, after pulling over the racecar driver for improper lane usage on I-88 in DeKalb. (Source: Twitter/Damein Cunningham)

Stewart got off with a warning for improper lane usage, but the trooper's bosses didn't think much of his decision to tweet the photo of himself and Stewart. Illinois State Police were reviewing Cunningham's post, but would not say if Cunningham would face any discipline for his social media use during a traffic stop.

Twitter lit up after the posting, with some users criticizing Stewart for a crash that killed fellow driver Kevin Ward Jr. during a non-NASCAR sprint race in 2014.

The trooper who posted the photo has since taken it down, but the web being the web, it can still be easily found.

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