Joliet man dies after crashing car into tree

A Joliet man has died following a car crash in Joliet.

At 2:55 p.m. Saturday, Joliet police responded to the area of West Jefferson Street near Barney Drive for a report of a single-vehicle crash, police said in a news release.

Upon arrival, officers saw a Toyota Tacoma pickup truck that had struck a tree in the center median just to the west of the intersection, police said.

Witnesses told officers the Toyota was eastbound on West Jefferson Street approaching Barney Drive when it slowly veered to the left into the median and struck the tree, police said.

The male driver, later identified by the Will County Coroner’s Office as 59-year-old Manuel Salas of Joliet, was taken to Ascension Saint Joseph -Joliet Hospital by the Joliet Fire Department where he was later pronounced deceased, police said.

It is believed that the driver suffered a serious medical event just prior to the crash, police said.

No other vehicles were involved in the crash.