One resident died and another was injured after a man driving a 2015 Nissan Pathfinder crashed into Odd Fellow-Rebekah Home, 201 Lafayette Ave. E. in Mattoon, Friday, according to Mattoon Police Chief Sam Gaines. 

The driver of the vehicle was a white male who is being investigated for a DUI, said Gaines. The driver was making the sign of the cross while waiting to take a breathalyzer test. 

Gaines said first responders were called to the scene at 11:28 a.m. for a potential structure fire. Authorities later discovered the driver was traveling south on North Logan Street where the vehicle “blew past” the stop sign, traveled through the yard and crashed into the resident’s room in Odd Fellow’s West Hall, according to Gaines. 

The injured resident was airlifted to Carle Foundation Hospital Emergency Room in Urbana, but the extent of their injuries and current condition are unknown, according to Mattoon Fire Chief Jeff Hilligoss. 

Hilligoss said the other residents were safely evacuated and will be moved into East Hall with residents in hospice care on West Wing being relocated to Sarah Bush Lincoln in Mattoon temporarily for Illinois State Police to do a reconstruction of the crash. 

“Nobody is displaced,” Hilligoss said. “They are making room for everybody in the other rooms.” 

Anna Savoie, a 12-year clinical research nurse at Odd Fellow, was one of the first to respond to the crash scene, discovering the two residents trapped under the car after it crashed into their room. 

“It sounded like the ceiling was falling in,” Savoie said. 

A full report of the crash will later be released on MPD’s Facebook page, said Gaines. 

Luke Brewer can be reached at 581-2812 or at lsbrewer@eiu.edu.