
A grand jury has charged a grandfather after he drove through a railroad gate and his vehicle was struck by a train in Ingleside, leaving his 13-year-old grandson and wife both dead.
Anthony J. Shemberger, 71, of Antioch, was charged with two counts of reckless homicide by motor vehicle, a Class 3 felony.
A Lake County grand jury indicted Shemberger on the charges on Wednesday, court records show.
The Fox Lake Fire Protection District and Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded around 12:15 p.m. on December 18 to Wilson Road and West Larkin Lane in Ingleside.
Metra spokesperson Michael Gillis told Lake and McHenry County Scanner at the time that outbound Metra train 2603 was traveling on the Milwaukee District North Line when it struck a car.
The crash was at the Wilson Road crossing just south of the Ingleside Metra station.
Anthony Shemberger, along with Noah Kucinski, 13, of Lockport, and Patricia Shemberger, 75, of Antioch, were inside the car.
Patricia Shemberger and Kucinski were pronounced dead at the scene, Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek said.
Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said a sheriff’s deputy, who was stopped facing northbound at the tracks, witnessed the crash.
An investigation showed the driver of a Hyundai Elantra, Anthony Shemberger, was traveling southbound on Wilson Road.
The crossing’s warning lights and gates lowered prior to a westbound train crossing the roadway, Covelli said.
Covelli said Anthony Shemberger did not slow down and drove through the gate, directly in the path of the train.
The train struck the driver’s side of the Hyundai.
Patricia Shemberger, who was in the back seat of the Hyundai, was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced deceased at the scene.
Kucinski, who was also in the back seat, was critically injured and pronounced deceased at the scene, Covelli said.
Firefighters had to extricate Anthony Shemberger from the car because he was trapped in the wreckage.
He was transported to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville with non-life-threatening injuries.
No one on the train was injured, Gillis said.
Train traffic was halted for two to three hours while the Metra Police Department and Lake County Sheriff’s Office Technical Crash Investigations Team investigated.
Shemberger is scheduled to appear for an initial court hearing on November 2.