A 24-year-old Belleville man was pronounced dead at the scene of a single-car crash that occurred around 7:20 p.m. Sunday in the 2300 area of Imbs Station Road east of Dupo in St. Clair County. The Columbia Fire Department and Columbia EMS assisted the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department at the scene.

The sheriff’s department stated in a media release that the car’s driver, Steven M. Shamrock, 22, of Belleville, said he was traveling southwest on Imbs Station Road when the rear of his 1999 Oldsmobile began to hydroplane on the wet roadway. Shamrock said he tried to gain control of the vehicle, police said, but went into the ditch and struck a culvert, causing the vehicle to overturn.

Shamrock was transported by ambulance to St. Anthony’s Hospital in St. Louis for treatment of injuries.  

 A passenger was trapped inside the vehicle and had to be extricated by Columbia firemen. The passenger, identified as David Douthitt, 24, of Belleville,  was unresponsive and was treated on scene by Columbia EMS.  St. Clair County Deputy Coroner Dean Darnall pronounced Douthitt deceased at 8:40 p.m.

The Sheriff’s Department is still investigating the cause of the crash.