Hancock Had Accident Days Before Death

SAUGET, Ill. (AP) _ Three days before he was killed in a highway wreck, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock was involved in a predawn accident that police treated routinely. <br/><br/>Officers who

Tuesday, May 1st 2007, 9:26 pm

By: News On 6

SAUGET, Ill. (AP) _ Three days before he was killed in a highway wreck, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock was involved in a predawn accident that police treated routinely.

Officers who talked with the 29-year-old reliever moments after the front of his sport utility vehicle was clipped by a tractor-trailer in this village known for its factories and strip clubs found Hancock lucid. He did not appear under the influence of alcohol, Police Chief Patrick Delaney said Tuesday.

No sobriety or breath tests were given to Hancock, and no tickets were issued, Delaney said. The SUV was too damaged to drive home.

Hancock was driving a rented Ford Explorer early Sunday when it slammed into a flatbed tow truck on Interstate 64 in St. Louis. Autopsy results had not been released, and toxicology tests were pending.

While waiting for a cab to take him home after the accident in Sauget, Hancock told another officer he disliked night games followed by day games. The pitcher said he often drove around to make himself tired enough to rest, the chief said.

``He said how he hated _ he used that word _ to play day games after a night game, that he had trouble sleeping and was out driving around,'' Delaney said.

Hours later, Hancock showed up late at Busch Stadium for a day game against the Cincinnati Reds. He insisted he thought the starting time was later and had overslept in a new bed.

Hancock was at a stop sign about 5:30 a.m Thursday, just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, when he inched his vehicle out a bit into the intersection, presumably to see around big trucks and other vehicles that frequently park near there, Delaney said.

A passing tractor-trailer traveling around the posted speed limit of 45 mph nicked Hancock's vehicle and sheered off the front bumper, the chief said. Neither Hancock nor the trucker, 33-year-old Richard Lehn of Keyesport, Ill., was injured.

Hancock ``was very fortunate,'' Delaney said. ``If he would have inched up another inch and that truck would have hit, it would have been much more serious accident.''

The accident happened on Illinois Route 3 off Yellow Brick Road, named for its proximity to the Oz nightclub. The intersection is also near a liquor store and small-scale truck stop.

Managers of Oz told police Hancock had not been at that club that night, Delaney said.

``The officers said they felt Josh was not impaired whatsoever,'' Delaney said. He said Hancock did not get preferential police treatment as a ballplayer, noting the responding officer ``didn't know Josh Hancock from John Doe.''

A message left at Lehn's home Tuesday was not immediately returned.

A memorial service for Hancock is set for Thursday in Tupelo, Miss. The Cardinals are chartering a plane that will get them there in time for a lunch with the Hancock family.

A private funeral for the family is scheduled for Wednesday.