Champaign Police were dispatched at 8:34 p.m. on September 19, 2023, to the intersection of Springfield Avenue and Staley Road for a report of an Accident with Injuries. On-scene, officers found a two-vehicle crash where one vehicle had left the roadway and struck a tree. A 23-year-old man from Champaign was found unconscious inside the vehicle, having sustained multiple injuries in the crash. The Champaign Fire Department extricated him from the vehicle and the man was transported to an area hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries. No injuries were sustained by the occupants of the second vehicle.
Witnesses indicate that the victim’s vehicle had failed to stop at a red light and proceeded through the intersection of Springfield Avenue and Staley Road when it was struck by the second vehicle, causing it to lose control and exit the roadway. The vehicle had fled a traffic stop by the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office earlier in the evening and was believed to have been fleeing the area after spotting a Sheriff’s Department vehicle on Staley Road. Investigators with the Illinois State Police were also called to the scene to conduct the traffic crash reconstruction. The investigation remains ongoing. Future updates may be provided as they become available.
Champaign Police ask that anyone who has additional information please call 217-351-4545. Arrangements can be made for information to be shared privately. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous may also submit tips to Crime Stoppers by phone at: 217-373-8477 (TIPS); online at 373tips.com; or the “P3 Tips” mobile app.
Citizens are reminded that information submitted to Crime Stoppers is completely anonymous. Calls are routed to a third-party national call center that receives your information, completes a tips information form, and then passes the information to the appropriate law enforcement agency. Caller ID tracking is not utilized by Crime Stoppers and conversations are not recorded.
Crime Stoppers will pay cash rewards of $5,000 for tips that lead to an arrest in any homicide case, $2,500 for tips leading to an arrest in a felony crime involving a firearm, and up to $1,000 for tips leading to the arrest of the person(s) responsible for any other crime.