A Glenwood man was fatally crushed Friday morning while changing the tire of a semitrailer that broke down on the Tri-State Tollway near Hazel Crest.
At 6:16 a.m., the driver of the semi pulled over when his rig got a flat tire as he was traveling on northbound I-294 near mile marker 4.5, according to Illinois State Police. The driver then called a service company to change the tire.
After 41-year-old Curtis Briggs showed up to change the tire, he was crushed by the semi when the jack slipped, state police said.
Briggs was taken to Ingalls Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:26 a.m., state police and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office said.
An autopsy Saturday found that Briggs died of mechanical asphyxia from being crushed by the semi. His death was ruled an accident, according the medical examiner’s office.
