Hit-and-run damages gas pump at Soulsby Station

An apparent hit-and-run accident damaged one of the Shell gas pumps at the historic Soulsby Station in Mount Olive, Illinois, last week.

The accident occurred Saturday morning amid a group of four touring motorcyclists visiting the station. Mike Dragovich, who’s owned the station since 1997, said surveillance video revealed one of the motorcyclists accidentally “dumped” the bike on its side, which crashed into the gas pump and knocked it on its side.

The mishap broke the pump’s top globe, shattered the window glass and scraped the paint on the front.

Dragovich estimated from timestamps on the video it occurred at 10:20 a.m. Saturday. The four men stood the pump back up, hung around for about 10 minutes and left.

Dragovich noted the station has a visitors’ guestbook where they could have left a note about the accident.

Cheryl Eichar Jett, a Route 66 enthusiast in central Illinois, posted screen-captured images from the video in a Facebook post. It contained some other details about the motorcyclists:

One rider with a green helmet and green vest, one with a white helmet with a black and white jacket on. There were two other riders. Riders had cameras mounted to the side of their helmets. The rider with the black and white jacket knocked over the gas pump with his motorcycle and left the scene at 10:28 a.m.

Based on the video, Dragovich thinks they were driving BMW motorcycles with possible Colorado license plates. He also thought because of their behavior and all the gear they were packing, they might be European.

One of the riders is on the hook for at least a charge of criminal damage to property and possibly of leaving the scene of an accident. The latter charge may not stick because it occurred on private property, however.

Dragovich asks anyone with information about the people who resemble the four men to call (217) 622-6443.

“It was the first time I’ve ever had anything like this happen,” Dragovich said during a phone interview Wednesday night. “I’m not interested (in an arrest). I just want it fixed.”

Henry Soulsby built the station in 1926 — the same year Route 66 was certified. His son, Russell Soulsby, took over the station for many years. Even after Interstate 55 arrived west of town, the station continued to run until 1993.

Soulsby later sold the station to Dragovich, who lives next door. Russell Soulsby died in 1999. The station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004 and received a preservation cost-share grant about that time from the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program.

(Images of the Soulsby Station damage via Facebook)