The police in Hancock County, Illinois, is investigating an accident involving a dirt bike and a bicycle. The Sunday afternoon, August 16th, collision involved 23-year-old Sutter resident Ruben Gerhardt and 67-year-old John Stewart of Warsaw.

According to the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office, the crash happened just before 5 p.m. south of North County Road 150 on 820 East near Tioga. Deputies said that Gerhardt was southbound on the road when his dirt bike rear-ended Stewart. 

The collision left the two men injured, and medics conveyed Gerhardt via ambulance to a hospital in Carthage, while they transported Stewart to Blessing Hospital via air ambulance. Upon the first man’s release from treatment, the police took him into custody on several charges.

They cover driving without a valid license, operating uninsured vehicles, and failure to provide immediate notice of an accident. The man might face other charges depending on the outcome of the investigation. There is no additional information.

Under Illinois law, getting a ticket for driving without a valid license is akin to getting arrested because it is a crime for a non-licensed person to operate a vehicle. It is a class B misdemeanor offense, and the potential penalties for this offense are 180 days in jail and a maximum fine of $1,500.

The offender could also face additional penalties from the Illinois Secretary of State. A ticket for the offense would cause the secretary to suspend the offender’s driving privileges. The latter punishment also applies to drivers from outside the state.

Disclaimer: The Accident News article you just read includes information obtained from numerous sources. These sources include, but are not limited to, websites and press releases from law enforcement, the county coroner, fire departments, and other news outlets. While we strive to provide readers with the most accurate information, sometimes the information received is not entirely accurate. For complete details, please refer to an official police report.

The articles published contain sensitive subject matter that may be hard to read by some. We understand that losing a loved one is hard and devastating. Accident News’s decision to share the stories is to help others who may be facing the same situations by providing appropriate resources to the general public.

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