Des Plaines man killed in accident

A 44-year-old Des Plaines man, Courtney Lewis, was killed Tuesday when the van he was driving crashed into the rear of a truck stopped on Interstate 55 near Joliet, Illinois State Police said.

State police gave this account:

Due to lane closures from an earlier gas leak, a semi-truck, driven by Rodney Fultz, 56, of Shabbona, and a passenger vehicle, driven by Jeff Nelms, 45, of Arlington Heights, were stopped in the right lane about noon Tuesday.

The van driven by Lewis failed to stop and rear-ended the semi-truck. The impact pushed the semi-truck into the passenger vehicle.

Personnel from fire departments from Troy Township, Minooka and Plainfield worked to extricate Lewis from the van, and he was transported on a Life Star helicopter to Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, where he was pronounced dead.

Nelms was transported to St. Joseph Hospital in Joliet for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. Fultz was not injured in the crash.

The accident occurred in the northbound lanes of Interstate 55 one-half mile south of Interstate 80 in Troy Township.

The crash continues to be investigated by state police District 5 crash reconstructionists.