Accident claims life of off-duty Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office deputy
An off-duty Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office deputy sustained fatal injuries in a traffic accident which happened Saturday night, Feb. 19.
Pulaski County Deputy Jon David Utley, 26, succumbed to injuries sustained in the accident. The accident happened in Pulaski County.
Illinois State Police District 22 at Ullin reported that the single-vehicle traffic accident occurred at approximately 8:30 p.m. Saturday in the 2000 block of Shiloh Road in Villa Ridge.
State police reported that Deputy Utley was driving a 2008 black Dodge truck.
Preliminary investigation indicated that the truck was traveling west on Shiloh Road.
The truck left the roadway to the left and struck a tree. The driver was transported by ambulance to an area hospital, where he later was pronounced dead.
“This office grieves the loss of one of our own,” Pulaski County Sheriff Randy G. Kern said in a message posted on social media.
Kern thanked those who provided their assistance, including:
Mounds Police, Mounds Fire, Mound City Fire, Ullin Police, Pulaski County Ambulance, Anna Police, Union County Sheriff, Union County Dispatch, 911 callers “and anyone else that we may have accidentally forgotten.”
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office as they mourn the loss of one of their own,” the Union County Sheriff’s Office shared in a message posted on social media.
Deputy Utley was a graduate of the Southwestern Illinois Police Academy in Belleville.
He served his community as a police officer with several agencies in Franklin and Williamson counties, and currently was a corporal with the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office.
His greatest passion in life was being a police officer.
Visitation will be held Thursday, today, at 11 a.m., with a funeral service at 1 p.m. at Jones Funeral Home at 594 Olmsted Rd. in Villa Ridge.
He will then be escorted by law enforcement back to his hometown in Johnston City, where a visitation will be 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 25, at Pyle Funeral Home in Johnston City (just east of Interstate 57, exit 59).
Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 26, at Pyle Funeral Home in Johnston City, with Pastor Steve Shea officiating. Interment will follow in Herrin City Cemetery.