Illinois: Multiple vehicles in I-74 crash, including deputies' car
The Illinois State Police are investigating a multiple-vehicle accident on Interstate 74 that sent four people, including two Vermilion County sheriff's deputies, to the hospital Monday night.
"They're pretty banged up and sore," Vermilion County sheriff's Capt. Dennis Wood said of a patrol sergeant and deputy, who were attending to the scene of a separate accident when their squad car and another vehicle were struck by an oncoming semi-tractor trailer truck.
"We're just blessed that they're alive," Wood said, adding both were taken to Presence United Samaritans Medical Center, where they were treated and released.
The conditions of the semi driver, a 34-year-old man from Mableton, Ga., and a passenger in the other vehicle that was struck, a 25-year-old Danville man, were unavailable.
The accident occurred at 9:58 p.m. in the westbound lanes at mile post 204.
According to a state police report, the driver of a 2007 Freightliner truck hauling a 2007 Wabash trailer that was heading west lost control of his vehicle as he approached a separate crash on the road. The semi-tractor trailer jack-knifed and then crashed into the sheriff's deputy's squad car and a 2006 Chevrolet van that was sitting in front of the squad car.
Last night, the roads were icing up and were slick. Wood said deputies were called out to a few weather-related accidents in the county.
They also responded to an accident on the interstate, in which a white full-size van had rolled over into a ditch, Wood said. "We were basically wrapping that up," he said, adding a minivan had pulled over in front of the squad car, and the occupant of the van that crashed sat in the minivan to stay warm. "A tow truck from Carneghi (Towing & Repair) was preparing to extricate the (full-size) van," Wood continued. "The semi-tractor trailer lost control, ran over our car and pushed our car forward. We don't know if we struck the minivan or not, but it ended up in the ditch also. (The semi-tractor trailer) continued onward striking the Carneghi's wrecker. ... That tow-truck driver was lying in the ditch hooking up the van to the truck and was narrowly missed by the semi."
The deputies were taken to the Danville hospital. State police said the semi driver and a passenger in the Chevy van were taken to Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana.
Wood said ambulances were on the scene treating other people.
The semi driver was charged with driving too fast for conditions. The accident caused the driving lane to be closed for an extended period of time.
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