Truck driver charged with falling asleep, causing 12-vehicle crash on Stevenson Expressway

A truck driver has been charged with falling asleep at the wheel Friday morning and crashing his truck into 12 other vehicles on the Stevenson Expressway near southwest suburban Summit.

The 2016 Freightliner did not stop in a construction zone and caused a chain-reaction crash involving 12 other vehicles at 3:50 a.m. in the inbound lanes of Interstate 55 near First Avenue, according to a statement from Illinois State Police. All inbound lanes of the expressway were closed for about two hours.

Five people were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and nine people were treated at the scene, police said.

The truck driver, Mark Tipton, 52, admitted he had fallen asleep just before the crash and did not attempt to stop, police said.

Cook County Judge Laura Sullivan set Tipton’s bail at $50,000 during a court hearing Sunday.

Tipton, of Crossville, Tennessee, was charged with driving while fatigued, a Class 4 felony, police said. He was also charged with brake out of adjustment, automatic slack adjusters required, 14-hour rule violation, false report of duty status, and failure to reduce speed to avoid a crash.

Contributing: Mitch Dudek