An 80-year-old Alma man was found unconscious in his car Monday morning after it ran off West Main Street and struck the Burger King sign pole before ricocheting into the fence between the parking lot and West Main.
Salem Police say Leon Rothe of Hicks Road was taken directly from the scene to the helipad at Salem Township Hospital and flown to a St. Louis Hospital for treatment. Police believe Rothe suffered a medical problem that caused the crash.
Police say Rothe had barely missed an Illinois Department of Transportation truck doing patching in front of the Huck’s Store before drifting into Burger King. Police say the top rail of the fence went through the car.
Salem Fire Protection District firemen were called to cut away damaged fencing on the driver’s side of the car that prevented emergency help from reaching Rothe. Firemen then assisted United Medical Response in getting Rothe into the ambulance.
Police say no one else was in the vehicle. It sustained heavy front-end damage, with the axle coming off the car.
The crash occurred around 9:30 Monday morning.
