Yorkville, IL — There was an accident this past Monday in Yorkville (February 9, 2015) that left two inmates with the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office injured after a semi-truck crashed into a van. This happened along Highway 47 in Yorkville at about 3:00 p.m. yesterday.
A semi-truck was driving along Highway 47 when it rear-ended a DeKalb County Sheriff’s van that had stopped or was slowing down for traffic. This was near Carpenter Street.
The force from the semi-truck caused the sheriff’s van to then rear-end another vehicle. Four inmates were in the van, being transferred, and two were injured and taken to a hospital. Their conditions haven’t been released yet.
The semi-truck driver was identified as local resident Christian Jonson, 37, and he was charged by the police for the wreck.
Map of the Accident
View from the Road
Commentary:
I’m sure people remember the very serious accident that happened in Texas earlier this year, when 10 inmates died after a prison van lost control and crashed on some train tracks. A lot of people spoke up after the accident, wanting to know what kinds of rights prisoners and inmates have when it comes to accidents. Do they get to file civil suits like everyone else?
In short, yes they do. Prisoners still have rights, even though they don’t get to exercise a lot of the same ones that other people do. The fact of the matter here is that this semi-truck apparently wasn’t paying attention to the road when it rear-ended the sheriff’s van, and that constitutes negligence. Think about it like this: if this were a car full of, say, children that was rear-ended by a semi-truck, would they the right to bring a claim against the trucker? Absolutely, and nothing changes about this situation either.
— Grossman Law Offices
