Man Killed After Exiting Truck On I-90 Near Arlington Heights

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL — A 63-year-old man was killed Thursday morning after exiting his truck tractor and getting struck by another truck in the westbound lane of the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (Interstate 90) between Arlington Heights Road and Route 53 (Rolling Meadows). Petu I. Petrov, of Hoffman Estates, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Illinois State Police.

A preliminary investigation reveals the man was traveling westbound on I-90 in his 2008 Freightliner straight truck. For unknown reasons, he stopped the truck in lane 3 of the three-lane highway, and exited the vehicle at around 10:07 a.m. A second vehicle, a 2019 Freightliner truck tractor/semi-trailer combination, was also traveling in lane 3 at the same location. In an attempt to avoid striking the rear of the first truck, the driver of the second truck, a 56-year-old man from Wabash, Indiana, swerved to the left and struck the man, who was standing outside his vehicle in lane 2, according to police.

Petrov died of blunt force injuries of the head, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.

The driver of the second vehicle refused medical treatment at the time of the incident. The westbound lanes of I-90 were closed at around 10:23 a.m. All lanes were reopened by 1:15 p.m.