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Development in Fatal I-48 Accident, Vehicle Was Stolen

Michael Agruss

Written and Reviewed by Michael Agruss

  • Managing Partner and Personal Injury Lawyer at Mike Agruss Law.
  • Over 20 years of experience in Personal Injury.
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  • Graduated from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law: Juris Doctor, 2004.

The fatal accident on Tuesday that happened on Illinois 48 northeast of Taylorville has just been updated. According to police, the vehicle was reported stolen by Brittni Harrison just before the accident. Harrison returned from a camping trip last weekend with her boyfriend and two daughters, aged 8 and 10, and found that her home and been burglarized. According to Harrison, “They took just about everything of value that was in the house.”

Harrison reported the burglary to the Taylorville Police Department and spent the next couple of days comforting her daughters, who were too afraid to stay in the home. Brittni said, “I told them the people weren’t coming back, that they got what they wanted.” As it turned out, this wasn’t true. On Tuesday afternoon, she went outside to get in her car and found it gone. She again called the Taylorville Police Department and officers were at her home taking the stolen car report when the call came in that her car had been found.

Her 2005 Hyundai was the car driven by Melvin Norris, 43, when he crossed the center line on I-48 and was killed when he hit a semi truck at approximately 7:45 pm on Tuesday.According to Taylorville Police Chief Dave Herpstreith, “She reported her car stolen about three minutes before we got the call to assist at the fatal.” After this news, Brittni went back inside and checked for her spare set of car keys, only to discover them gone.

As Brittney explained, she is a single mother working hard to support her children and doesn’t make a great deal of money working as an assistant manager at the Taylorville Family Dollar. She said she recently reduced her car insurance to the bare bones to give her more money to live on.

Now she does not have the coverage to replace her vehicle, nor the money to cover or replace the items stolen. She has the option of filing a lawsuit for damages against Norris’s estate, if there is one, but that will cost money as well and take time.

The Taylorville Police Department chief said the investigation into the burglary will continue and hopefully recover the belongings stolen from her home.

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