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Chillicothe man arrested in Saturday's fatal crash on Route 6

Chillicothe man arrested in Saturday's fatal crash on Route 6

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by: lanestar7 Active Indicator LED Icon 4 OP 
~ 7 years ago   May 5, '16 11:04am  
Chillicothe man arrested in Saturday's fatal crash on Route 6

By Staff
Journal Star
PEORIA — Police on Wednesday arrested a Chillicothe man on a host of traffic charges related to Saturday’s fatal accident on Illinois Route 6.
 
About 3 p.m. Wednesday, Benjamin I. Thrush, 35, of 1510 N. Fifth St. was arrested on charges of aggravated leaving the scene of an accident with death, aggravated reckless driving, improper lane usage, speeding and failure to notify police of an accident.
 
Police had been looking for the driver of a late model black Chevrolet pickup truck since the crash occurred about 7:30 p.m. Saturday on the highway near the Knoxville Avenue exit.
 
Killed was Jacob T. Fishel, 19, of 711 Sixth St., Chillicothe. The teen was thrown from his 2005 Pontiac Bonneville after he lost control of the car.
 
Authorities have said it appeared Fishel’s car and the truck had been traveling at a high rate of speed when, for an unknown reason, Fishel lost control and the vehicle rolled several times. Fishel was found in a southbound lane of the highway.
 
On Tuesday, Peoria police asked the community for help in locating the truck, described as having 4X4 markings near the back, after-market rims and the Chevrolet logo on the tailgate, and its driver.
 
No other details about the case have been released.
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lanestar7 Active Indicator LED Icon 4 OP 
~ 7 years ago   May 5, '16 11:05am  
What side of this debate are my fellow Peoria.commers on? Do you think this guy should be punished for leaving the scene after engaging in street racing or do you think each driver bears 50% of the burden that led to one death?
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skutfarcus Active Indicator LED Icon 12
~ 7 years ago   May 5, '16 11:15am  
I dunno. Was it racing? Was it road rage? Was someone being chased? Did the truck force the car off the road?
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tapeworm Active Indicator LED Icon 11
~ 7 years ago   May 5, '16 11:19am  
was arrested on charges of aggravated leaving the scene of an accident with death, aggravated reckless driving, improper lane usage, speeding and failure to notify police of an accident

@lanestar7 :
 
If they were in fact racing, those sound like reasonable charges. It doesn't appear he's being pinned for manslaughter or being held responsible for the other guy's death, nor should he be.
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JeepPilot Active Indicator LED Icon 15 Site Admin
~ 7 years ago   May 5, '16 12:07pm  
Well, I dunno. How would one prove that they were or were not racing? There have been several times I've been cruising along the highway and passed someone else, both of us going above the speed limit.
 
I just reread the article above and noted that he was driving a Pontiac Bonneville. Am I crazy or did the reports originally say "white Mustang?" I swear I remember reading that more than once he was in a Mustang, because the idea of racing sort of made sense. Now I'm reading and saying "why would a Bonneville try to race a big V8 truck?
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meanjarhead Active Indicator LED Icon 12
~ 7 years ago   May 5, '16 12:33pm  
why would a Bonneville try to race a big V8 truck?

@JeepPilot :
 
Testosterone .
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lanestar7 Active Indicator LED Icon 4 OP 
~ 7 years ago   May 5, '16 12:53pm  
I'm kind of surprised to see charges of improper lane usage just coming from "eyewitness" reports to police. I wouldn't think that specific of a charge could come just from another driver saying "Oh he changed lanes without signaling too!"
 
Unless this Thrush confessed to everything, I can see these charges as being difficult to stick by the word of just one or two other drivers on the road who they blew past.
 
I'm in the 50% at fault camp, if you choose to race a 4x4 in an 05 Bonneville without your seatbelt, you bear the brunt of the responsibility for your death. Just because someone dies, they aren't automatically anointed a saint. People make bad choices that sometimes result in their own death which is terrible and sad but that's the consequence of being human.
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Whit Active Indicator LED Icon 7
~ 7 years ago   May 5, '16 12:57pm  
Jacob lived right around the corner from me and his grandfather is my immediate neighbor ( apple tree guy ) his family said he had just got off work from Menards and was on his way home. From there it's a mystery...there are some dips in that road that can cause some trouble at high speed, especially in a Bonneville.
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joepyeweed Active Indicator LED Icon 15
~ 7 years ago   May 5, '16 1:11pm  
They apparently are relying on eye-witness accounts... as long as their is more one corroborating witness, they have a case...
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Whit Active Indicator LED Icon 7
~ 7 years ago   May 5, '16 5:03pm  
They are also using physical evidence. The Bonneville was damaged on the side doors as in a T-Bone accident, and the rear quarter panel had been hit from the rear as if in a rear end collision. Now I would like to see the truck.
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skutfarcus Active Indicator LED Icon 12
~ 7 years ago   May 5, '16 5:10pm  
There are probably only 2 people that really know what happened. And at least one of them isn't talking. There is no good excuse for not wearing a seatbelt.
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Whit Active Indicator LED Icon 7
~ 7 years ago   May 6, '16 12:15pm  
Do any of you believe his story? Scared? WTH
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lanestar7 Active Indicator LED Icon 4 OP 
~ 7 years ago   May 6, '16 12:57pm  
PEORIA — A Chillicothe man fled the scene of a fatal car crash last weekend because he was afraid of the other driver, who he said had flipped him off and “brake checked” him.
 
Benjamin Thrush, 35, was arrested Wednesday, just days after the Saturday evening crash that resulted in the death of 19-year-old Jacob T. Fishel, also of Chillicothe. Fishel, who died from head injuries, was found lying in a southbound lane of Illinois Route 6 after being ejected from his 2005 Pontiac Bonneville shortly after 7:30 p.m.
 
Police had been looking for a Chevrolet pickup that they thought was involved in the accident. Using video surveillance footage from the Burger King restaurant on Allen Road near Route 6 and the nearby Shell gas station, officers were able to get a license plate of a 2011 Silverado that belonged to Thrush’s mother.
 
His mother told police Thrush had been driving the vehicle that night, which prompted officers to go to Thrush’s job, Midwest Material Co.’s gravel pit in Lacon. He agreed to go back to the Peoria police station for questioning. He told police he had been driving north on Route 6 when a man in a white car, presumably Fishel, flipped him off and sped past him. Thrush said Fishel then brake-checked him, or pulled in front of him and then suddenly slowed down.
 
Thrush said he tried to get off Route 6 at the Knoxville Avenue exit, but Fishel tried to come up alongside his truck. Thrush was afraid and tried to move to the right side of the roadway, he told police, at which time Fishel’s car spun out of control in the grassy median and crashed. Thrush kept driving because he was scared, he said.
 
When he got to the bottom of the Route 6 hill, Thrush told police, he thought about going back but didn’t when he saw a police car speed up the hill.
 
According to the report, Thrush said he didn’t know how bad the accident was as he didn’t read the paper or watch the news. When officers told him Fishel had died, Thrush reportedly started crying. Thrush had told police he didn’t know the two cars collided. But according to the police report, officers found white paint on the truck’s driver’s side front wheel well and also on another panel.
 
State’s Attorney Jerry Brady said Thursday his office is reviewing the matter and considering what charges are appropriate.
 
Thrush, who had been held in the Peoria County Jail on Wednesday night, has been released.
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lanestar7 Active Indicator LED Icon 4 OP 
~ 7 years ago   May 6, '16 12:58pm  
Thrush had told police he didn’t know the two cars collided. But according to the police report, officers found white paint on the truck’s driver’s side front wheel well and also on another panel.

@lanestar7 :
 
Definitely sounds like a confession from Thrush that he tried to move over into Fishel's lane and now his truck has the car's paint on it?? Sounds like the people who pre-judged this guy were right this time!
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Whit Active Indicator LED Icon 7
~ 7 years ago   May 6, '16 1:07pm  
He changed his story about as often as a presidential candidate does. He's a coward!
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lanestar7 Active Indicator LED Icon 4 OP 
~ 7 years ago   May 6, '16 1:10pm  
Yes, you run someone off the road and then don't watch the news OR read the paper??? It was all over all social media and they are both from the SAME small town!!!!
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