Collinsville man in serious condition after being run over on interstate

The Collinsville man who ran into traffic on Thursday and was hit by a UPS truck is in stable but very serious condition, Illinois State Police say.

The pedestrian ran onto southbound Interstate 55 and was hit by the truck early Thursday morning, resulting in the temporary closure of the interstate.

The man, around 30-years-old, suffered life-threatening injuries, Timothy Tyler of the Illinois State Police said.

The man was transported to the Saint Louis University Hospital and issued a citation for improper walking on a highway, Tyler said.

Tyler said he could smell alcohol on the man’s breath and coming from his open wound when he arrived on the scene.

“I don’t want to speculate, but a lot of the time when you’re dealing with alcohol usage, there’s mental illness there. A lot of the people we see like that suffer from mental illness,” Tyler said.

Tyler said the man “ran into a UPS truck” and his body was run over by the rear tandem wheels on the truck.

This story was originally published September 23, 2017 at 4:19 PM with the headline "Collinsville man in serious condition after being run over on interstate."