Pile up on Interstate 39 sends a half dozen people to the hospital

A head on crash snarled traffic on Interstate 39 just south of Tonica.

Just before noon Saturday, firefighters and police officers rushed to a crash on the interstate that involved four different vehicles. Twenty-two-year-old Jacob Kuzel of Oak Lawn is accused of driving his Dodge Durango through the median and hitting cars driven by 60-year-old Martin Fenton of Bull Valley, 49-year-old Duwayne Jones of Roscoe and 27-year-old Courtney Bregar of Chicago.

Kuzel along with Jones and two of his passengers including a 13-year-old girl were all taken to Illinois Valley while Bregar and one of her passengers were taken to St. Margaret’s Hospital. Three others were treated at the crash scene.

Kuzel was ticketed with improper lane usage and failing to reduce speed. The stretch of I-39 where the crash happened was closed down Saturday afternoon for about an hour.