West Alton, MO : Man, 24, dies in a head-on crash on U.S. Highway 67 south of Clark Bridge early Saturday, February 18, 2017

An Alton man died early Saturday when a Nissan Sentra, traveling the wrong way on U.S. Highway 67, hit his northbound Ford Fusion head on.

Jerrett Marquis J. Mitchell, 24, of Alton, who had been driving a 2010 Ford Fusion north on U.S. 67, was pronounced dead at the scene at 2 a.m. Other media reported Mitchell had been driving home from work at time of the crash.

Sanford S. Thomas, 33, of St. Louis, was driving the Sentra south in the northbound lane when the cars collided, according to a Missouri State Highway Patrol report.

Thomas suffered serious injuries and was airlifted to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.

The report says neither driver was wearing a seat belt.

The impact of the 1:45 a.m. crash sent one of the cars from the northbound lane down into the grassy median, said Chief Richard Pender of Rivers Pointe Fire Protection District. Pender said the crash happened about halfway between Missouri Highway 94 and the Clark Bridge, east up the hill from where a fireworks stand opens every summer by the southbound lane of U.S. 67.

Pender said he had requested assistance from the Alton Fire Department, then called them off after Rivers Pointe firefighters were able to disentangle and extricate Thomas from his car and determined Mitchell was deceased.

The emergency workers then awaited arrival of the highway patrol to investigate the crash. Pender said it was not immediately evident as to why Thomas was driving in the wrong lane. He said occasionally there are wrong-way drivers in the area, but they quickly realize their mistake and turn around before crashing.

“It’s been a long time since we had an accident” in that area caused by a wrong way driver, he said.

Mitchell’s Facebook page says he was a native of Bellefontaine Neighbors and graduated from Riverview Gardens High School.

Pender said Rivers Pointe firefighters had three calls late Friday and early Saturday just to Highway 67, as part of the start of a busy year for the volunteer department. Prior to the fatal crash, they responded to a call for a vehicle that had hit a concrete median and spun around to block traffic just south of the Clark Bridge.

Pender said that driver suffered only minor injuries.

Before the scene could be cleared in the crash that killed Mitchell, Rivers Pointe firefighters were called to extinguish a brush fire by the southbound lanes of Highway 67. With less than two months into 2017, Pender said Rivers Pointe had responded to 42 calls, as of Monday morning.

Source :
Alton man, 24, dies in weekend, head-on crash on U.S. Highway 67 south of Clark Bridge