Urbana man arrested after wrong-way crash kills 22-year-old near Illini Union

URBANA, Ill. (WAND) — Urbana police have arrested a man following a crash that killed a 22-year-old man and sent a U of I police officer to the hospital last week.

The Urbana Police Department said the crash happened just after 2 a.m. Dec. 20 at the intersection of Green Street and Mathews Avenue, near the Illini Union.

According to Urbana PD, a U of I police officer was patrolling the campus area on Green Street when a car driving the wrong way sped through the intersection from Mathews Avenue, which is a one-way.

The driver, later identified by UPD as 31-year-old James Buford of Urbana, hit the officer's squad car and spun off the road onto the sidewalk.

Police said at the time of the crash, a group of five people was on the sidewalk. One of the people was 22-year-old Perry Lee. The car hit Lee when it spun out. He was taken to the hospital and later died.

The officer was also taken to the hospital with minor injuries and later released.

Urbana police arrested Buford Dec. 29 and charged him with leaving the scene of an accident with a fatality, reckless homicide, wrong way on a one-way and unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon.

Champaign County court records said Buford appeared in court Tuesday and pleaded not guilty. He will have a detention hearing on Wednesday, before a pre-trial hearing at 9 a.m. Jan. 27.

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