An 18-month-old boy was accidentally run over and killed by his father’s pickup truck in their Barrington home’s driveway, which was witnessed by the mother and siblings, the sheriff’s office said.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded around 6:35 p.m. Tuesday to Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, 450 Route 22 in unincorporated Barrington.
Deputies responded to a call that a toddler had been brought to the hospital after being run over by a vehicle at a different location, according to Lake County Sheriff Spokesman Lt. Christopher Covelli.
Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the hospital and discovered the 18-month-old boy succumbed to his injuries and had been pronounced dead.
Further investigation revealed the incident occurred in the 25600 block of West Drake Road in unincorporated Barrington. Lake County sheriff’s detectives and members of the Sheriff’s Technical Crash Investigations Team responded to the scene.
A preliminary investigation shows the toddler’s 48-year-old father, who lives at the same address on Drake Road, entered his Chevrolet pickup truck, which was parked in his driveway.
The toddler was outside in the vicinity of his mother and other siblings and was standing approximately 50 feet away from the pickup truck when his father entered it, Covelli said.
“Just before the father began backing down the driveway the toddler ran toward the pickup, which nobody saw,” Covelli said.
The father began backing up and then turned the pickup so he could pull forward out of the driveway. This caused one of the front tires of the pickup to roll over the toddler.
The father and mother placed the toddler into the pickup and rushed him to Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The Lake County Coroner’s Office responded and an autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday morning.
“This preliminarily appears to be a tragic accident,” Covelli said.
The crash remains under investigation by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Technical Crash Investigations Team and Lake County Coroner’s Office.