A driver suffered critical injuries during a high-speed single-vehicle crash on Crescent Avenue near Adelphi Avenue in unincorporated Waukegan. | Photo Submitted to Lake and McHenry County Scanner

A North Chicago man is in critical condition after he was ejected from a rollover crash and paralyzed early Saturday morning near Waukegan, authorities said.

The Waukegan Fire Department and Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded around 2:30 a.m. Saturday to the 12700 block of West Crescent Avenue in unincorporated Waukegan for a vehicle crash with injuries.

Sheriff’s deputies arrived and found an injured victim that had been ejected from a car.

A preliminary investigation shows the man was driving a Chevrolet Trailblazer at a high rate of speed eastbound on Crescent Avenue, according to Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli.

The driver, a 35-year-old North Chicago man, was approaching Adelphi Avenue.

The Chevrolet, for an unknown reason, crossed into the oncoming lane of traffic and drove into a ditch on the north side of the roadway.

A driver suffered critical injuries during a high-speed single-vehicle crash on Crescent Avenue near Adelphi Avenue in unincorporated Waukegan. | Photo Submitted to Lake and McHenry County Scanner

The Chevrolet struck a utility pole before coming to a rest on its side.

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The driver, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was ejected from the vehicle, Covelli said.

He was located approximately 30 feet from the Chevrolet.

The man was transported by ambulance to an area hospital in critical condition.

Covelli said preliminary indications show the man is paralyzed from the waist down.

Alcohol appears to be a factor in the crash, Covelli added.

The crash remains under investigation by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Technical Crash Investigations Unit.