JOLIET TOWNSHIP — A man apparently jumped to his death while trying to evade the long arm of the law Monday.

The incident began at 1:02 a.m. on Briggs Street at the bridge between Washington and Cass streets.

Will County Sheriff’s spokesman Pat Barry said a deputy witnessed a northbound Chrysler Sebring scrape the side of a northbound Audi and attempt to drive away before crashing into the bridge.

The Sebring was driven by Cornelius A. Moffett, 23, who had a 26-year-old Joliet man as a passenger.

“(The passenger) told deputies they’d been at a friend’s house and drank a half a bottle of tequila,” reports said. After an argument, Moffett agreed to take the man home by way of Briggs Street.

As the Sebring crossed over Interstate 80, Moffett accelerated to more than 100 miles per hour and went through a red light at Washington Street, his passenger said.

The passenger told deputies Moffett swerved to avoid the Audi and struck the bridge.

After hitting the bridge, “Cornelius said ‘If the police come I’m going to run for it,’” the passenger told authorities.

As the deputy who witnessed the crash turned on his emergency lights to approach the vehicle, Moffett "got out and ran for the bridge rail on the east side of the road "and leapt over the railing,” his passenger said.

The bridge is about 55 feet above the railroad tracks that run below it, police said.

Barry said Moffett’s passenger told police he did not know why the man had jumped, but “speculated it was because he’d been drinking.”

East Joliet firefighters were called to the scene. The two women in the Audi were not injured and were able to drive their vehicle from the scene.

Moffett was found unresponsive on the ground east of the bridge. He was taken to Silver Cross Hospital where he was pronounced dead in the emergency room at 2:21 a.m.

An autopsy performed Monday determined Moffett died from “blunt force trauma to the chest” as a result of the fall.

Moffett’s passenger also was treated for minor injuries at the hospital. Neither man was wearing a seat belt when the accident occurred, he reportedly told police.

Moffett was scheduled to appear in court July 16 on a charge of possession of a controlled substance. He also was arrested in November 2007 after allegedly stealing from Meijer in Bolingbrook.
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This was in my paper today, and now online.. Sadly,it makes me laugh my ass off...

its just different when its you