Lebanon Man Killed in Head-On Collision on I-70

Eastbound I-70 was closed for a good part of Saturday afternoon between Effingham and Montrose due to a serious crash that occurred just before noon.

Photo credit: Mark Pitcher

State Police report that a 66-year-old Lebanon man was killed and several other individuals were injured in a wrong-way crash on I-70 about three miles west of Montrose just before noon Saturday.

State Police indicate that Plumey was traveling westbound on I-70 when for unknown reasons his car crossed through the center median and started traveling westbound in the eastbound lanes of traffic.  Baerga-Plumey then struck an eastbound pickup driven by 27-year-old Joseph Lansky of Mt. Clemens, Michigan.

Effingham County Coroner Kim Rhodes pronounced Luis Baerga-Plumey dead at the scene of the crash.

Lansky and three passengers in his car from Mt. Clemens, Michigan, 28-year-old Danielle Lansky, a three-year-old boy and an 11-month-old boy, and two passengers in Baerga-Plumey’s car, 55-year-old Lisa Baerga-Plumey and a four year old girl both from Lebanon were all transported to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.

Rhodes reported that Lisa Baerga-Plumey was transferred to Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana where she was listed in serious, but stable condition. Rhodes also thanked personnel at HSHS St. Anthony's Memorial Hospital in Effingham and at Crisis Nursery in Effingham for their care for the three children involved in the crash.

The eastbound lanes were re-opened about 4:30pm Saturday.