Mason Resident Killed in Coles County Crash

A Mason resident was killed in a crash in Coles County Wednesday night.

70-year-old Leroy Alwardt was southbound on I-57 near the Illinois Route 16 interchange outside Mattoon when the crash occurred just before 8:30pm.  State police say Alwardt lost control of his pickup truck, which ran off the right side of the roadway and struck the guardrail.  The collision with the guardrail caused Alwardt's vehicle to roll over, ejecting Alwardt from the vehicle and onto the roadway.  A following semi driven by 54-year-old John Wesley Pettitt of Holliday, Tennessee, swerved to miss debris from the crash and was unable to avoid driving over Alwardt.

Coles County Coroner Ed Schniers pronounced Alwardt dead at the scene of the crash.

Gieseking Funeral Home in Altamont will handle funeral arrangements for Leroy Alwardt.