Did you see hit-and-run that killed tollway worker? Police seek tips
Police are asking the public to help find a semitrailer driver involved in a hit-and-run that killed an Illinois tollway worker Monday.
David M. Schwarz, a 48-year-old equipment operator laborer, died while removing debris from the Tri-State Tollway (I-294) near 127th Street in Alsip.
Anyone with information on the hit-and-run should call (630) 241-6800, ext. 5028, Illinois State Police Capt. Robert Meeder said.
Investigators are sifting through witness statements, interviewing witnesses and reviewing crash video, Meeder said Wednesday at a tollway meeting.
Schwarz, who lived in Monee, was married with one son attending college and another son starting kindergarten.
His family was devastated by the tragedy, said friends who have set up a gofundme page to raise money for scholarships for the children.
Schwarz was walking back to his vehicle just before 12:30 p.m., when the semitrailer driver hit him and sideswiped his maintenance truck, police said.
Schwarz had parked his truck, which was equipped with flashing lights, and "was following all tollway safety protocol at the time of the incident," tollway Executive Director Greg Bedalov said. "It's very, very sad."
"The tollway worker was clearly on the shoulder on the other side of the fog line," Meeder said, referring to the solid white line separating the main road from the shoulder. "The vehicle appears to have drifted over the fog line onto the shoulder."
Schwarz's duties included assisting stranded drivers, maintaining safe roads and removing snow.