Sterling man identified as driver killed Thursday in crash near Polo

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POLO – A man killed Thursday morning in a head-on collision just outside Polo was identified Friday as Timothy M. Alba, 37, of Sterling, formerly of Polo.

According to the Ogle County Sheriff’s Office, Alba was eastbound in the 13000 block of Millegdeville Road when his SUV crossed the center line about 6:45 a.m., hitting a westbound pickup driven by Thomas B. Knipple, 31, of Polo.

Knipple was taken to KSB Hospital in Dixon, then flown to OSF St. Anthony’s Medical Center in Rockford. A call seeking his condition has not yet been returned.

Each man was alone in his vehicle. The Milledgeville and Polo fire departments extricated the men and extinguished a fire that broke out in the SUV after the crash, the sheriff said in a news release Thursday.

Although no illegal behavior is suspected, as a matter of course, an autopsy was performed Thursday. The results will not be available for six to eight 8 weeks, Lt. James Messer said.

Kathleen Schultz

Kathleen A. Schultz

Kathleen Schultz is a Sterling native with 40 years of reporting and editing experience in Arizona, California, Montana and Illinois.