UPDATED 7:56 p.m.
PEORIA, Ill. – Illinois State Police say an accident late Sunday morning on U.S. 150 is fatal. The Peoria County Sheriffs Department says it started as a police chase.
Peoria County Sheriff Chris Watkins says on social media the incident started at 10:09 a.m. Sunday at the Shell gas station on Kickapoo-Edwards Road, when a call came in of a potential overdose victim in a car at the gas pumps.
Watkins said while the female victim was being attended to, a male had fled the scene in a suspect vehicle, almost hitting three squad cars, and almost hitting a deputy who was out of their vehicle.
Later, Troopers say the crash at U.S. 150 and Koerner Road was first reported at approximately 10:33 a.m, involving three vehicles, including the suspect vehicle.
Troopers say one person was pronounced dead at the scene. Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood identifies the victim as a 43-year-old woman from Edwards. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday, at which time the identity will be released.
A second person in one vehicle was an unresponsive child — rescued from the vehicle through Brimfield Fire’s “Jaws of Life”. The child, and the adult driver of another vehicle — were taken to local hospitals.
Peoria Firefighters put out a blaze in one of the cars — a large sedan. A small sedan and a pick-up truck were also involved in the crash. The driver of the pickup was also taken to a hospital for evaluation.
Authorities have not confirmed whether the fatal crash was the cause of, or in some way connected to, a police chase of the vehicle.
It took roughly six hours Sunday before the accident scene was cleaned up and opened to normal traffic.
This story will be updated.
