Illinois man, part of brush-clearing work crew in Holmes County, killed in traffic crash

Staff Report
·2 min read

WASHINGTON TWP. – The driver of a utility terrain vehicle died Saturday after a crash that involved two pickups, a skid steer and the UTV on state Route 3 in Holmes County.

Keith J. Reno Jr., a 41-year-old from Vandalia, Illinois, who was part of a work crew from Landracorp Inc. that was clearing brush along state Route 3, just south of state Route 179, died as a result of the crash, according to a news release from the Wooster Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, which noted no one else was injured.

According to the patrol's release:

The accident happened just before noon when a 2018 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup on Route 3 came upon two southbound vehicles: a 2019 Honda UTV and a 2021 Chevrolet Silverado, both with flashing lights, that were following a skid steer, which was also southbound.

The three slow-moving vehicles were part of Landracorp, a brush-clearing work crew based out of Brownstown,Illinois. They were moving from one site to another.

The Dodge pickup struck the UTV from behind and pushed it into the Chevrolet Silverado, according to the release. The Dodge came to rest, disabled, in the northbound lane of Route 3 beside the other vehicles that came to rest in the southbound lane.

Reno, the driver of the UTV, was taken by Western Holmes Fire District EMS to Wooster Community Hospital and later died as the result of the crash, the release said. The seat belts for the UTV were buckled behind the driver when the crash happened, according to the report.

The driver of the Dodge was a 30-year-old Loudonville man, who was using a seat belt. The driver of the Chevrolet, of Saint Elmo, Illinois, and a passenger from Vandalia, Illinois, were seat-belted and uninjured.

In addition to personnel from Western Holmes and Loudonville EMS, the Ohio Department of Transportation assisted at the scene. The road was closed for about two hours.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Illinois man dies in crash involving pickups, UTV, skid steer