ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - A St. Louis County Police officer and one other person are dead after a Thursday night crash in Illinois, according to police. Police say the vehicle the officer was driving was struck head-on, on Illinois 159 in the area of Brick School Road.
The officer was off-duty and in a personal vehicle, according to police.
Officer Ellis joined @stlcountypd in 2011. Served in Affton Southwest county and Central County precincts. In 2012, earned a lifesaving award for performing CPR on an unresponsive man. Was a @USMC who was deployed to Iraq. @kmoxnews pic.twitter.com/IjGeoDQLzN
— Brian Kelly (@Brpkelly) October 11, 2019[iframe https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d3129.182679308733!2d-89.99718158466584!3d38.344753679659604!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x88761fdbda26088d%3A0x3afc15dfe9958465!2sIL-159%20%26%20Brick%20School%20Rd%2C%20Prairie%20Du%20Long%20Township%2C%20IL%2062264!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1570805308447!5m2!1sen!2sus allowfullscreen="1" frameborder="no" height="450" width="600"]
A 2009 Dodge Caravan driven by officer James Ellis Jr., 49, of Hecker, Ill. was hit head-on by a 2016 Hyundai Sonata that was passing a tractor trailer. Ellis was taken to Barnes-Jewish Hospital where he was prounced dead.
Investigators say the Hyundai that hit his Dodge van spun into the path of the truck, that impact killed 24-year-old Ariah Claybrone of Memphis. She was a passenger in the Hyundai. The driver of that vehicle, 23-year-old Dale Claybrone Jr is being treated for serious injuries. The truck's driver refused medical treatment.
There was a heavy presence of officers at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis early Friday morning.
© 2019 KMOX (Entercom). All rights reserved
