Illinois Injury Attorney Blog

SEVENTY-FIVE YEAR OLD KANKAKEE RESIDENT DIES IN SINGLE CAR ACCIDENT

2009-07-27T14:54:34Z

Lillie L. Baptist, a 75 year-old resident of Kankakee was killed in a single car accident on Wednesday after the 1995 Dodge Caravan she was driving left the road on Illinois Route 17 near Lowe and Frontage roads. Kankakee County Coroner, Robert Gessner, pronounced Baptist dead at the scene at approximately 11:20 a.m. Wednesday morning.

The exact cause of the crash and death are still under investigation; however, preliminary reports showed that Baptist had slumped over the steering wheel prior to losing control of the vehicle.

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ARCOLA RESIDENTS INJURED AFTER THEIR CAR IS FORCED OFF THE ROAD BY A TRUCK ON INTERSTATE 74

2009-04-05T20:02:32Z

Emily W. Myers, 21, and Alex E. Myers, 23, both from Arcola, Illinois, were injured when a truck ran the Ford Taurus being operated by Emily Myers off of Interstate 74 near Mansfield, Illinois, on Thursday night.

Both Emily and Alex had to be extracted by emergency personnel after their car hit a ditch embankment, flipping over twice, skidding across the eastbound interstate lanes and coming to rest in the eastbound lanes facing west. By the time the vehicle stopped, the driver's door was pinned against the guard rail. The Pair were both wearing seat-belts, and were taken to Provena Covenant Medical Center in Urbana, Illinois, where they were treated and released.

According to the accident report, Illinois State Police (out of Pesotum), found that Emily Myers was driving in the right westbound lane, before she attempted to pass a semi-tractor trailer that was driving next to her on Interstate 74 at about 8:45 p.m. Thursday evening. As Myers attempted to pass the semi-truck, reportedly operated by Mark E. King, 44, of Rockford, Illinois, King moved into the left lane and caused Myers' car move off the Interstate to avoid impact.

King was ticketed for improper lane usage, state police reported.

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SINGLE CAR ACCIDENT ON BLOOMINGTON ROAD IN CHAMPAIGN ILLINOIS CUTS OFF POWER TO 117 HOMES

2009-03-02T19:41:37Z

Champaign police were forced to close the east and westbound lanes of Interstate 74 for about 10 to 15 minutes while a utility pole was put back in place by AmerenIP workers following a one-car accident that cut power to more than one hundred homes on Sunday morning. According to Champaign police, an eastbound car left Bloomington Road causing it to strike a utility pole and roll over twice. The impact forced Bloomington Road to close for several hours and cut off power to 117 residences and businesses for several hours.

The driver of the car, whom has not yet been identified, was apparently uninjured. While there was not mention of any tickets being issued, the AP reported that police did not believe the man was under the influence of alcohol or drugs. He reportedly hit a patch of ice. There were no other passengers in the vehicle.

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TWO JEFFERSONVILLE INDIANA POLICEMEN SHOT WHILE INVESTIGATING COMPLAINTS OF DOMESTIC DISTURBANCE AT NEARBY MOTEL 6

2009-02-19T19:17:10Z

At around 7 p.m. Thursday evening, two Jeffersonville, Indiana police officers responded to reports of a domestic dispute at a Jeffersonville Motel 6 on Eastern Boulevard. When the officers arrived, guests reported that a man pulled a gun and shot the two officers. Jefferson police department reported that both officers, 39 year-old Dan Lawhorn and 32 year-old Keith Broady, were transported to University Hospital in stable condition.

SWAT officers and members of the Jeffersonville Police Department surrounded the motel searching for the suspect.

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HOOPESTON ILLINOIS MAN KILLED IN SINGLE CAR ACCIDENT ON HIGHWAY 9 JUST WEST OF RANKIN ILLINOIS

2009-01-27T15:04:35Z

Richard A. Shatto, a 38-year-old Hoopeston man, was killed in a Vermillion County Illinois car accident at 12:11 a.m. Sunday on Illinois 9 just west of Rankin, Illinois. According to police, Shatto was driving a 1997 Chevy Lumina west on Illinois Highway 9 when his car left the road and hit a guardrail. The vehicle then corrined into a field and turned over. According to reports, Mr. Shatto was not wearing a seat belt and was thrown from the vehicle. Although he was airlifted by helicopter to Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, Illinois, where he was pronounced dead at approximately 1:30 a.m. The cause of the crash is still under investigation.

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VERMILLION COUNTY MAN DIES IN A ONE-CAR ACCIDENT ON ROUTE 9 WEST OF RANKIN ILLINOIS

2009-01-26T21:02:18Z

The Champaign County Coroner's office has confirmed that Richard Shatto, 38, of Hoopeston, was the decedent driver in a one-car accident at 12:11 a.m. Sunday on Illinois Route 9 west of Rankin in Vermilion County. Shatto was pronounced dead just after 1:30 a.m. Sunday at Carle Foundation Hospital, after the 1997 Chevy Lumina he was driving westbound left the roadway, striking a guard rail and ejecting him while overturning in a field.

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DEATH OF CHAMPAIGN ILLINOIS MAN RULED SUICIDE DESPITE NO WEAPON BEING FOUND AT THE SCENE

2009-01-22T21:24:23Z

A Champaign County Coroner's jury ruled the death of Robert L. Winsor, 50, of Champaign, Illinois, was suicide despite the fact that police never found a gun. Winsor, whose body was found on a picnic table at Kaufman Lake in Champaign on Dec. 13, 2008, had a gunshot would to his head; however, Champaign Police Detective, Joe Johnston, reported that the gun used to kill Winsor was never recovered.

CHAMPAIGN COUNTY CORONER'S JURY INCONCLUSIVE ON DEATH OF 25 YEAR OLD URBANA WOMAN

2009-01-21T21:23:00Z

Following 20 minutes of deliberation, coroner's jury in Champaign County ruled that the cause of death of an Urbana woman, April R. Rahming, 23, was undetermined.

Ms. Rahming died on Oct. 25 after she fell out of the passenger's side of a truck driven by her then live-in boyfriend, Charles Laroe, 25, of Urbana, on the 1800 block of Willow View Road, Urbana. According to testimony, Laroe told Champaign County Sheriff's Investigators that the passenger door of his truck didn't shut properly and that he felt a bump in the road after Ms. Rahming was run over by one of the truck's rear tires.

When Laroe jumped out of the truck to attend to Ms. Rahming, he reportedly failed to put the truck into park, and it rolled another 50 to 60 feet into a ditch. Police investigators then reported that Laroe placed Ms. Rahming back in his truck and took her to the home of her parents. Laroe told police that he took her there because it was closer than the hospital and because her stepfather knew CPR. Ms. Rahming died at her parent's home.

According to Deputy Coroner Steven Skinner, autopsy findings showed Ms. Rahming suffered multiple skull fractures, swelling of her brain, multiple lacerations, rib dislocations and loss of blood.

CENTRAL ILLINOIS MAN DIES IN MCLEAN COUNTY AFTER REAR-ENDING A STATIONARY GARBAGE TRUCK

2009-01-20T20:54:06Z

The McLean County coroner reported that 31–year–old Timothy R. Applegate, of Stanford died January 10th after he rear–ended a stationary garbage truck. Reports indicated that Applegate crashed his car around 6:30 this morning. Preliminary investigation believes that he apparently sneezed right before the collision and was unable to stop in time. Applegate was transported to OSF Saint Francis Medical Center, in Peoria, Illinois, where he was pronounced dead just after 8 am.

DYING WIFE SENT TO ILLINOIS LONG TERM CARE FACILITY IN SPITE OF HUSBAND'S WISHES

2009-01-19T20:16:46Z

On Christmas Eve, William White received a call from administrator at Kindred Hospital saying that his 66-year-old wife of 48 years, Viola Jane White, was being transfered out of their facility and was on her way to a long-term facility in Ilinois. Viola had been a patient at Kindred Hospital in Green Cove Springs, and was on dialysis and a ventilator.

Shortly before the Christmas Eve transfer, officials at Kindred Hospital informed William that Medicaid and Medicare were no longer going to pay for Viola's treatment come mid November, and since White could not afford the $1,000 a day medical bills to keep her there, executives told him she could be moved to a facility in Illinois. White, however, fiercely disagreed with the decision to transfer Viola 1100 miles away and instructed them not to do so. On Christmas Eve, however, White was notified his wife was on her way to Illinois.

White said Kindred Hospital told him his wife signed the papers to send her to Illinois. White does not believe Viola was competent to sign nor that she understood what she was doing. In a written statement, Kindred Hospital justified their actions saying, "Upon receiving a physician discharge order, the patient was transferred to an appropriate, non-hospital level of care. The timing of this transfer was unfortunate."

The Illinois facility where Viola was transfered told Florida Media outlet, First Coast News, that "Elmwood Care does on occasion receive patients who are ventilator dependent and in the morbidity stage of dialysis, a service very few hospitals across the country can offer. We do receive out of town referrals on occasion, but the hospital is required to get authorization."

Nunziato also confirmed that Viola had passed away there Monday morning.

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CARBONDALE TEEN DIES IN SINGLE CAR ACCIDENT IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS

2009-01-16T20:44:04Z

Funeral services will be held Saturday for a Carbondale teenager who died in a single-vehicle accident in Central Illinois in mid-December.

Alana Ross, a 19-year-old Carbondale girl was killed in a singe care accident while traveling on Interstate 57 in Effingham County on December 16, 2008. Accordingly to police investigation, Ross lost control of her vehicle and crashed. An autopsy was performed by the Champaign County Coroner, Duane Northrup.

At that time of the accident, central Illinois had been hit with a series of winter storms, and ice was reported on the interstate. Following the accident, Ross was taken to Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, Illinois, which is a Level 1 Trauma Center; however, she was pronounced dead upon arrival. While autopsy results have not been completed, Northrup said it appears Ross died from the “significant traumatic” injuries she suffered during the single car accident.

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CHAMPAIGN COUNTY ILLINOIS TEEN DIES IN SINGLE CAR ACCIDENT

2009-01-15T20:33:44Z

At approximately 3 am, January 17, 1009, a Central Illinois teen lost control of his vehicle and struck a utility pole. Autopsy report confirmed that 18-year-old Alexander Smith died from injuries sustained in the one-car accident. The accident occurred at County Road 1000 N near the intersection of County Road 1700 East. Preliminary investigation has lead the Sheriff's Department to believe that Smith lost control of his vehicle causing the same to collide with the utility pole.

Local media outlet, WCIA 3 News, spoke with Smith's parents, who were told the news of their son's untimely death while vacationing in Florida. They reportedly flew back to Central Illinois Saturday.

According to his parents, Alex was an only child. His father described him as "a kind-hearted young man who was loved by everyone he ever met". Alex was taking mechanic classes at Parkland Community College, and had recently moved to a Philo apartment complex.

MISSING INDIANAPOLIS PILOT MARCUS SCHRENKER PREVIOUSLY FILED A FEDERAL LAWSUIT AGAINST THE SAME HAMILTON COUNTY INDIANA PROSECUTOR NOW SEEKING HIS ARREST

2009-01-14T13:18:43Z

While Marcus Schrenker continues to make national headlines for his D.B. Cooper impression, few media outlets are reporting his prior ties with the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office.

According to Court records, Schrenker and his now estranged wife previously filed suit in the Federal Court of the Southern District of Indiana against the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department, the Hamilton County Prosecutor, Sonia Leerkamp, and the Town of Fishers, as well as an individual deputy prosecutor and Sheriff employees. In their FEDERAL LAWSUIT, as filed by Indianapolis Attorney, Jeffrey McQuary, Schrenker alleged that he was wrongfully detained, arrested, and physically and emotionally injured following an incident with a motorcycle.

According to the lawsuit, Hamilton County Sheriff Deputy, Donald Ball, wrongfully and forcefully arrested Schenker on allegations that he was illegally operating a motorcycle near his then McCordsville, Indiana, home. Along with these allegations, the lawsuit also referenced harassment by the Hamilton County Prosecutor and a Deputy Prosecutor in an attempt to avoid reporting the Sheriff's Deputy's actions. According to Court files, the case was dismissed in 2007.

]]> Kooi Law Firm is a full service personal injury firm focusing its practice on the representations of victims of injury, fraud or neglect throughout the State of Illinois and Indiana. Jeffrey Kooi, the founding and managing partner, has recently been nominated to the Rising Stars list in the Indiana Super Lawyers' Publication, an award reserved for less than 5% of Indiana attorneys. The attorneys of Kooi Law Firm never represent or defend the insurance companies, and work tirelessly to effect the best possible outcome for their clients.

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FISHERS INDIANA BUSINESS MAN FAKES HIS OWN DEATH IN ELABORATE PLANE CRASH AND PARACHUTE STUNT

2009-01-13T13:14:50Z

A Hamilton County Indiana Judge agreed to freeze the assets of pilot and Indianapolis businessman, Marcus Schrenker, 38, following an alleged attempt to fake an emergency with his single engine airplane, and then parachute from it before it crashed in a swampy area a few hundred yards from a residential neighborhood in the Florida panhandle.

According to police, Schrenker's financial businesses were under investigation by the Indiana Department of Insurance. Preliminary investigations indicate that Schrenker exited his small plane before it crashed, and later checked into a hotel in Alabama under a fake name before putting on a black cap and fleeing into nearby woods.

According to local media reports, the US Marshall's office has been dispatched to locate Schrenker; however, details of the search were not yet being released to the public. Airport officials at the Anderson Municipal Airport in Anderson, Indiana, indicated that Schrenker left the airport by himself on Sunday in a six-seater Piper PA-46. At the time of the incident, records indicate that Schrenker was president of three Indianapolis financial agencies called Heritage Wealth Management, Heritage Insurance Services, and Icon Wealth Management, all Indianapolis based organizations sharing the same address. According to the Indiana Secretary of State's Office, those three companies were under investigation for possible securities violations at the time of Schrenker's disappearance.

Officials believe the plane crashed at 9:15 p.m. CT on Sunday in a swampy area off the Blackwater River in East Milton, Florida. According to reports, Schrenker made a distress call to air traffic controllers indicating that the window of his plane had imploded and he was bleeding profusely. Controllers tried to tell the pilot to divert the flight to Pell City, Alabama, but he did not respond.

After the call came in, military aircraft were dispatched to intercept the plane. The pilots spotted the Piper and deployed flares to illuminate the plane as it was flying, but noticed that its door was open and the cockpit was dark. Meanwhile, Schrenker was reportedly more than 220 miles north of the crash site in Alabama. Officials in Florida received a call on Monday from the Childersburg, Alabama Police Department indicating that a white male fitting the description of Schrenker had approached a Childersburg's police officer, and indicated that he had been in a canoeing accident with friends. According to reports, Schrenker's pants were wet from the knees down. According to a police news release, Schrenker also had parachuting goggles and his own Indiana Driver's License with him.

At the time Schrenker approach them, Childersburg police had not been advised of the plane crash. Per his request, they took Schrenker to a nearby hotel. When reports of the crash came in, police went back to the hotel and entered Schrenker's room but he had already left. According to hotel staff, Schrenker paid for the room with cash and checked in with a fake name.

]]> Local media outlets were reporting that surveillance video from the Harpersville Motel showed Schrenker checking in, and then putting on a black cap and running into nearby woods. Recent reports have also indicated that Schrenker may have rented a storage facility and placed a motorcycle there. Officials apparently investigated the storage facility, but found only wet clothes and no sign of the motorcycle the storage facility employees described as being placed in the unit.

Officials at the Anderson, Indiana airport where Schrenker keeps his planes described Schrenker as an "accomplished" pilot, indicating that he owns a couple of airplanes and flies them regularly. Video found on YouTube showed him demonstrating some of his pilot talents.

Interestingly, in 2005, Schrenker had another run-in with Hamilton County Indiana authorities. In the attached Federal lawsuit, Schrenker, through his attorneys, describes an incident where he allegedly was falsely arrested and taken into custody. FEDERAL LAWSUIT

MULTIPLE CAR ACCIDENTS OCCUR ON ICY ROADS IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS

2009-01-12T19:13:03Z

State Police in Central Illinois responded to over 50 accidents on Illinois Interstates. Dangerous winter weather conditions were being blamed for the accidents that seemingly began around 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning.

A school bus from the Buckley, Loda, Paxton, Iroquis County School District ended up in a ditch, causing injury to the driver and at least one child. Police also reported a fatal accident on eastbound Interstate 74 near Tilton. According to reports, a 42 year old female lost control of her Toyota Tacoma pick-up truck and rolled over several times before coming to rest on its roof in the westbound lanes. The reports also identified at least two children in the vehicle, both of whom are believe to have survived. The children were transported to Provena United Samitaritan Hospital for medical treatment.

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