Joliet Motorist, 59, Dies After 'Medical Event,' Hits Tree: Joliet PD

JOLIET —Will County Coroner Laurie Summers announced that a 59-year-old Joliet man died over the weekend after a crash at the busy intersection of West Jefferson Street and Barney Drive.

The fatality happened Saturday afternoon in Joliet. The coroner indicated that Manuel Salas died around 3:45 p.m. at the nearby St. Joe's hospital following his vehicle crash at Barney and West Jefferson.

According to Joliet police spokesman Dwayne English, at 2:55 p.m., the officers responded to the area of West Jefferson Street near Barney Drive for a report of a single vehicle crash. The officers realized that Toyota Tacoma pickup truck struck a tree in the center median just to the west of the intersection.

Officers learned from witnesses that the Toyota was eastbound on West Jefferson Street approaching Barney Drive when it slowly veered to the left into the median and struck the tree. The man driving the Toyota was transported to St. Joseph's Medical Center by the Joliet Fire Department, where he was later died.

"It is believed that the driver suffered a serious medical event just prior to the crash. The male driver was identified by the Will County Coroner’s Office as 59-year-old Manuel Salas of Joliet. No other vehicles were involved in the crash," English said.

After Joliet Patch posted the article, Susana Salas posted a comment on the Joliet Patch Facebook site, letting everyone know: "That’s my dad, unfortunately he had a heart attack as he was driving and hit a tree. But the cause of death wasn’t the accident."