Truck hits utility pole, knocks power out in East St. Louis

Power was knocked out to more than 100 East St. Louis residents early Sunday afternoon after a pickup truck struck a power pole in town.

No one was injured in the crash that left a power pole in the 600 block of North 74th Street knocked over and resting on adjacent power lines. Workers from Ameren Illinois were at the scene working to restore power. The utility company expects power will be restored to all affected residents by Sunday evening.

East St. Louis Police Officer Luther Woods said the accident occurred just before 1:30 p.m. He said the driver has been cited for improper lane usage and failing to reduce speed.

“He said he doesn’t have a clue as to why he did that,” Woods said. “He said he didn’t black out or was on any medication. He seems fine.”

Simon Haynes lives near the fallen power pole and heard the crash.

“It was like I was in Vietnam,” Haynes said.

Resident Charles Harper also lives nearby and said he saw the truck driving toward the power pole and then heard the collision.

“It was a big boom,” Harper said.

East St. Louis Fire Department responded to the scene but did not see any fires from the crash.

This story was originally published October 4, 2015 at 3:46 PM with the headline "Truck hits utility pole, knocks power out in East St. Louis."