A surveillance video captured the moment a driver fleeing from police at a high speed slammed into multiple parked cars at a dealership in Lindenhurst and erupted in flames last week.
The Lake Villa Fire Protection District and Lindenhurst Police Department responded around 9:10 p.m. Tuesday to Route 45 and Grand Avenue for a report of a vehicle crash with injuries.
Lindenhurst Chief of Police Thomas Jones said officers arrived and found multiple cars on fire on the southeast corner of Ziegler Nissan’s parking lot.
An investigation showed a vehicle was traveling westbound on Grand Avenue at a high rate of speed.
The vehicle struck the median after it went through the intersection at Route 45.
The vehicle went airborne, struck a light pole and severed a fire hydrant, Jones said.
It then entered the parking lot of the car dealership and struck at least four parked vehicles on the lot.
Jones said all of the vehicles were engulfed in flames following the crash.
The Lake Villa Fire Protection District and Gurnee Fire Department responded to extinguish the fire and treat the driver of the vehicle.
Gurnee Police Department Public Information Officer Shawn Gaylor said the car had originally been witnessed traveling through Gurnee at a high rate of speed near Grand Avenue and Brookside Drive.
Officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop on the vehicle but it fled westbound at a high rate of speed.
The vehicle was east of Grand Avenue and Route 45 when it made a U-turn and stopped in the eastbound lanes of Grand Avenue, Gaylor said.
Officers pulled up behind the vehicle and it sped off, made another U-turn and continued westbound on Grand Avenue toward Route 45 at a high rate of speed.
Officers did not pursue the vehicle, which was involved in the crash moments later west of Route 45, Gaylor said.
Gurnee police officers arrived on the scene and assisted the driver, Sincere Quezare, 20, of Zion who sustained minor injuries.
Quezare was taken into custody and charged with reckless driving and fleeing to elude a peace officer.
Paramedics transported Quezare to a local hospital for treatment of minor injuries, Jones said. No other injuries were reported.