Police seek trucker in fatal stabbing

State police are searching for a truck driver who is suspected of fatally stabbing another trucker Friday afternoon on the Edens Expressway.

The victim, Allen Lauritzen, 40, from Sparta, Wis., died Friday afternoon at Highland Park Hospital. He was discovered around 10:45 a.m. by a motorist who spotted him lying alone on the ground with stab wounds outside his semitrailer truck on the shoulder of the Edens Expressway near Tower Road, said Illinois State Police Trooper Clair Pfotenhauer.

Lauritzen suffered two stab wounds in his chest and one in his arm, she added. Lake County Coroner Richard Keller said the chest wounds are what proved fatal. Lauritzen was pronounced dead at 12:07 p.m. after paramedics from the Northbrook fire department took him to Highland Park Hospital, Pfotenhauer said.

Police are trying to determine where the stabbing occurred and what the conflict was about. Pfotenhauer said police were still investigating into the evening Friday.

"We're talking to witnesses and ask anyone who drove near the area and saw something that could help to contact us," she said.

Lauritzen was driving from Peotone, where he had dropped off cargo, police said. They added that he was headed back to Arcadia, Wis., where the trucking company he worked for is based.

The motorist who discovered Lauritzen called police to report a bleeding body, Pfotenhauer said. Three units from the Northbrook Fire Department responded, along with dozens from Illinois State Police.

The victim was found on the ground on northbound side of I-94, in the far left lane at mile marker 31., Northbrook Deputy Fire Chief Jim Richards said.

All but the far left lane of the northbound Edens Expressway was closed at Tower Road near Northbrook about 11 a.m. Friday due to the investigation, police said. By 3:50 p.m., all lanes were reopened.

Anyone who may have information should contact Illinois State Police at (847) 294-4400.