Woman killed, 2 men hurt in 4-vehicle Tri-State crash

SUN-TIMES MEDIA WIRE - A woman was killed and two other people were injured in a a crash involving three semitrailers and a van Monday night on the Tri-State Tollway near northwest suburban Rosemont.

Renee A. Hodorowicz, 53, was driving a 2009 International truck with a trailer south at 8:12 a.m. on Interstate 294 north of the Irving Park Road toll plaza when she failed to reduce the truck’s speed and it rear-ended the trailer of a 2014 Peterbilt truck that was slowing or stopped traffic, according to Illinois State Police and Rosemont police.

The impact caused a chain-reaction crash in which the Peterbilt rear-ended a 2004 Chevrolet Venture van, which in turn rear-ended the trailer of a 2016 Freightliner, state police said.

Hodorowicz, who lived in Joliet, was taken to Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, where she was pronounced dead at 9:24 p.m., according to state police and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. An autopsy Wednesday found she died of multiple injuries from the crash and her death was ruled an accident.

The driver of the Peterbilt, a 64-year-old Texas man, was also taken to Lutheran General, while the 58-year-old Wisconsin man driving the Freightliner was taken to Resurrection Medical Center, state police said. Their injuries were not thought to be life-threatening.

The 54-year-old Berwyn man driving the Chevrolet refused medical treatment, authorities said.