A North Chicago man was killed after he drove off the roadway, hit a utility pole and trees, and then rolled his car over in Wadsworth early Sunday morning, the sheriff’s office said.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Newport Township Fire Protection District responded around 3 a.m. Sunday to the 16400 block of West Route 173 in Wadsworth for a report of a single-vehicle crash.
Sheriff’s deputies located a red 2002 Chevrolet Blazer on its side off the roadway on Route 173 east of Mill Creek Road.
Lake County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Ari Briskman said the vehicle’s driver, a 45-year-old North Chicago man, was unresponsive.
Firefighters and paramedics found the man was trapped in the vehicle, which sustained heavy damage, and determined he was deceased.
No one else was inside the vehicle besides the driver.
Investigators from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Technical Crash Investigations Team responded to the scene.
A preliminary investigation showed the Chevrolet was traveling eastbound on Route 173 approaching Mill Creek Road.
Briskman said the Chevrolet enter entered the westbound lanes of traffic for an unknown reason and went into the embankment on the north side of the roadway.
The Chevrolet struck a utility pole and trees before coming to a stop on its side.
Crash investigators and the Lake County Coroner’s Office are working to determine if impairment was a factor in the crash, Briskman said.
The identification of the driver is being withheld pending notification to his family.
The crash remains under investigation by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Technical Crash Investigations Team.