Red Cross driver dies in early morning crash
By Donna Barker
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dbarker@bcrnews.com
SHEFFIELD — A second traffic fatality has occurred within a two-day period in western Bureau County.
On Thursday morning, Bureau County Sheriff John Thompson confirmed the driver of an American Red Cross van died when his vehicle struck a semi-truck at about 12:12 a.m. Thursday on Route 40, at the eastbound exit ramp of Interstate 80.
Late Thursday morning, Bureau County Coroner Janice Wamhoff identified the male victim as 77-year-old Jessie Veach of Peoria.
In reviewing the events of the accident, Thompson said it was very clear what happened. The semi-truck driver had taken the eastbound exit ramp from Interstate 80, decided he had taken the wrong exit and then attempted to make a u-turn to get back on Interstate 80. In the process of that u-turn, both the north and south bound lanes of Route 40 were blocked. The American Red Cross van, based in Peoria, was traveling south on Route 40 and struck the semi-truck in the mid-part of the trailer, becoming wedged beneath the trailer and killing Veach.
The semi-truck driver, Donald Harper, 47, of Wichita, Kan., was cited for making an illegal turn and was given a notice to appear in court.
Wamhoff pronounced the victim dead at the scene at 1 a.m. An inquest is pending into Veach's death, Wamhoff said.
In addition to the sheriff's department and coroner, also assisting at the scene were the Buda Police, Buda Fire and Rescue, Sheffield Fire and Rescue, and the Illinois Department of Transportation, which handled the road closing. Site reconstructionist Gary Beckett, with the sheriff's department, also worked on the investigation into the accident, assisted by the Illinois State Police. Seneca's Towing took both the semi-truck and the van from the scene.
Today's fatal accident happened about a mile north of Tuesday's accident site in which a Sheffield woman was killed. In Tuesday's two-vehicle accident, LuAnn Jensen of Sheffield was killed when her van was struck by a grain truck that ran the four-way stop intersection.
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