The coroner’s office has identified a 26-year-old man who died on Monday after he drove the wrong way on Route 41 in Wadsworth and struck a semi-truck head-on.
An autopsy showed that Joshua Brumfield, 26, of Chicago, died as a result of multiple traumatic injuries from a vehicle collision, according to Lake County Chief Deputy Coroner Steve Newton.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Newport Fire Protection District responded around 11:30 p.m. Monday to Route 41 north of Wadsworth Road in Wadsworth for a vehicle crash with injuries.
Sheriff’s deputies located a gray 2015 Chevrolet Malibu and a white 2019 Mack truck with an attached trailer in the southbound lanes of Route 41.
Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said both vehicles sustained heavy crash damage.
Brumfield was the driver and sole occupant of the Chevrolet Malibu and was pronounced dead at the scene, Covelli said.
The driver and sole occupant of the Mack truck, a 48-year-old Grayslake man, was transported to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville with minor injuries.
Investigators from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Technical Crash Investigations Team responded to the scene.
A preliminary investigation shows the Chevrolet was traveling southbound on Route 41 in the northbound lanes of traffic for an unknown reason, Covelli said.
The Chevrolet collided with the northbound Mack truck.
Both vehicles came to rest in the southbound lanes of traffic.
Crash investigators and the Lake County Coroner’s Office are working to determine if Brumfield was impaired or experienced a medical condition.
An autopsy was performed Tuesday on Brumfield. Toxicology results are pending.
The incident remains under investigation by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Technical Crash Investigations Team.