July 02--URBANA -- Tom Lennox, a Decatur man who was struck by a Macon County Sheriff's Office squad car Friday night, was listed in critical condition at Carle Foundation Hospital at noon today.
Lennox, 33, was injured when the white pickup truck he'd been riding in was rear-ended by a squad car around 10:40 p.m. in the northbound lane of North Jasper Street, about halfway between Garfield Avenue and Pershing Road.
Lennox suffered a head injury as well as injuries to both legs, Decatur Police Officer Craig Lundy wrote in a police report.
Macon County Sheriff Tom Schneider said the Decatur Police Department is handling the accident investigation.
"If they consider the officer was at fault for the accident, we will administer some kind of discipline," Schneider said.
Deputy Decatur Police Chief James Chervinko said Lennox was in the roadway to pick up a mattress that had fallen off the truck.
"The squad car hit the pedestrian in the roadway and the truck," Chervinko said, adding that the victim was transported to Decatur Memorial Hospital and then to Carle Foundation Hospital, Urbana.
The police department's Fatal Accident Investigation Team was called in immediately on Friday.
"The street was shut down, measurements were taken, photos were taken," Chervinko said. "Our reconstruction officers will do an entire reconstruction of the accident scene. We are examining vehicles, conducting interviews."
One of the main factors to be determined will be the speed of the patrol car at the point of impact.
Schneider said he could not release any details about the accident, the victim or the victim's injuries due to the ongoing investigation.
"We are in contact with the victim's family and want them to know we care," he said. "And although the officer wasn't physically injured, he is still shaken up."
Schneider said investigations into the incident are well under way.
"We're conducting our own internal investigation parallel to the Decatur Police Department's investigation," he said.
Chervinko said the Decatur police investigation team's results should be available in about two or three weeks.
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