Aurora man hit by truck, killed after stumbling off sidewalk

By Erika Wurst, For Chronicle Media

Two men gathered near a makeshift memorial on North Lake St. after an Aurora man apparently stumbled into the street and was struck and killed by a truck heading northbound. (Photo by Jack McCarthy / Chronicle Media)

A 36-year-old Aurora man was killed Monday evening after apparently stumbling off the sidewalk and into the path of a moving semi-truck, Aurora police said.

According to Aurora Police Department spokesman Dan Ferrelli, officers were called to the 800 block of North Lake Street around 7:41 p.m. for reports of the incident. When they arrived on scene, police found Ralph Clark, 100 block of South Fourth St., lying in the roadway unconscious, not breathing, and suffering from “critical” injuries, Ferrelli said.

He was pronounced dead on the scene.

As they began to investigate, detectives learned that a 64-year-old Joliet man was driving a 2018 East ST semi northbound on North Lake Street when he allegedly spotted Clark walking bent over and stumbling on the sidewalk.

He said that as he passed Clark, he looked through his passenger side mirror and saw Clark stumble into the roadway, apparently falling into the passenger side of the semi’s flatbed trailer.

According to Ferrelli, it appears that Clark may have been under the influence of alcohol when he stumbled into the street.
The driver of the semi-truck was not injured, and no citations were issued, police said.
The Kane County Coroner will not be performing a full autopsy on Clark, but will conduct toxicology and other tests.
The Illinois State Police and volunteers from Aurora’s Emergency Management Agency assisted Aurora Police Traffic Investigators on the scene. Lake Street, between Illinois Avenue and Lakelawn Avenue, was closed for several hours while the crash scene was reconstructed.
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