A 75-year-old man had to be extricated from his car after it struck a curb, went airborne, hit a tree and rolled over in a parking lot near Deerfield, police said.
The Lincolnshire-Riverwoods Fire Protection District and Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded around 12:05 p.m. Wednesday to the area of the MonJardin Child Care Learning Center, 20630 Milwaukee Avenue in unincorporated Deerfield, for a vehicle crash with injuries.
Sheriff’s deputies arrived and located a 2018 Tesla SUV on its side on the northern end of the parking lot of the strip mall, according to Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli.
A preliminary investigation shows the driver, a 75-year-old Buffalo Grove man, turned into the parking lot from southbound Route 21.
Covelli said the driver tried applying the brakes but accidentally hit the accelerator.
The driver lost control and struck a curb, sending his car airborne.
The Tesla then struck a tree and rolled over, Covelli said.
Firefighters stabilized the vehicle and extricated the 75-year-old man, who was still inside the Tesla, fire officials said.
The Wheeling Fire Department and Deerfield-Bannockburn Fire Protection District also assisted at the scene.
Paramedics transported him to an area hospital with minor injuries.
A tow truck was called to the scene to upright the Tesla and remove it.
Covelli said it is “very fortunate nobody in the parking lot was struck” by the vehicle.
“This was the second time in a short period of time that a significant crash happened in the parking lot,” Covelli added.
In late April, a woman, also driving a Tesla, crashed into the Deerfield Wine and Spirits in the same strip mall.
No one was injured in that crash but damage was reported to the vehicle, merchandise inside and to the front glass windows of the store.