Thursday, March 28, 2024

Two men injured in crash

Two Johnson County men received serious injuries from a vehicle crash near Cypress Thursday morning. Randell L. Duke, 64, of Cypress, and Michael Ross, 57, of Vienna were both transported to out-of-state hospitals for treatment of their injuries.

The accident occured at around 11:30 a.m. on Route 37 at the intersection of West Eden Road, approximately one mile south of Cypress.

Ross was traveling north on Route 37 in a 2000 Peterbuilt truck towing a dump semi-trailer. Duke was traveling south on 37 in a 2006 Toyota Tocoma attempting to make a left turn onto West Eden Road turing into the path of Ross.

The Peterbuilt struck the Toyota pushing it into a tree.

Vienna Fire Department spent approximately 45 minutes removing Duke from his vehicle with the jaws of life.

Ross was transported by ambulance to a hospital. Duke was air-lifted by helicopter to an Evansville hospital. The conditions of the two men are unknown at this time.

State Route 37 was closed for nearly two hours while officers investigated and cleaned up the crash. The investigation into the crash continues by Illinois State Police.

Duke was charged with failure to yield right away. There may be additional charges brought against him if the investigation sees fit to, as well as the final conditions of both drivers. If Ross wants to put a case against Duke for his part in the crash, he may want to contact local attorneys for auto accidents to see where he stands in relation to the incident and if he can press any charges because of injury.

Johnson County Sheriff’s Department, Johnson and Pulaski County Ambulance Services and Vienna and Cypress Fire Departments assisted at the scene.

Photo by Lonnie Hinton