Procession to honor anniversary of tow-truck driver’s passing to drive through Champaign-Urbana

Danny Connolly and Amanda Brennan

44 mins ago

URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — A motorcade honoring a young worker at an Urbana towing company will be driving through Champaign and Urbana Wednesday evening.

20-year-old Ross Booker was cleaning up a crash in Champaign in 2022 when a car hit him. He died in the hospital the next day. Now, the company Tatman’s towing is honoring his passing with a motorcade.

“Ross was an extraordinary young man. He had his whole life ahead of him,” Jim Hampton, the owner of Tatman’s, said. “Never saw Ross without a smile.”

The procession started at Tatman’s Towing in Urbana at 5:02 Wednesday, marking exactly two years since Ross Booker died. 

The procession headed out of Tatman’s down Cunningham Ave. south to University Ave. Then they travelled west to Neil Street and south to Windsor Rd., past where the crash that killed Booker happened.  

After getting on Windsor, the motorcade will go east until Rt. 130. They will then turn onto Rt. 150. Finally, the procession will end at Stanton Friends Cemetery just north of St. Joseph where Booker is buried. 

Champaign unanimously approves $2M wrongful death settlement for Booker family

This isn’t the first time local tow truck companies honored Booker’s passing, having done light-up tributes and processions.

The motorcade also brings awareness to Scott’s Law, which asks drivers and motorists to slow down and move over from first responders and their vehicles.

This is a developing story that will continue to be updated.

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