State Police Identify Hit-and-Run Driver in Fayette County Fatal Crash

An arrest has been made in the case of a semi driver who sideswiped a stopped truck along I-70 in Fayette County, resulting in the death of the driver of the stopped vehicle.

District 12 Illinois State Police report the driver who left the scene of the crash was 60-year-old Ray L. Ryan of Buffalo, Missouri. Ryan has been arrested on a charge of failure to report an accident involving personal injury or death.

The crash occurred at 8:50pm Wednesday about three miles east of Mulberry Grove. The driver of the stopped truck, 46-year-old Peter F. Peters of Elmira, Ontario, Canada, was standing outside the rig when it was sideswiped, pinching Peters between the vehicles and resulting in his death. The rig reportedly driven by Ryan then left the scene, headed east.

State police say the rig driven by Ryan was identified as the suspect vehicle and was located in Cambridge, Ohio, about an hour and a half east of Columbus, Ohio. With the assistance of the Guernsey County Sheriff's Department, the Ohio State Highway Patrol, and the Fayette County State's Attorney's Office, Ryan was arrested.

The crash resulted in the closure of eastbound I-70 near Mulberry Grove for seven hours Thursday morning while State Police completed their investigation.