A driver who led police on a high-speed chase was killed and eight others, including several children, were injured when the suspect caused a crash near Zion Saturday afternoon.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Newport Fire Protection District responded around 4:30 p.m. Saturday to the area of Route 173 and Kilbourne Road in unincorporated Zion for a vehicle crash with injuries.
Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said sheriff’s deputies arrived and located two vehicles with major damage.
A preliminary investigation showed a 32-year-old man from Salem, Wisconsin, was driving a stolen Lexus GS400 in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin.
The Pleasant Prairie Police Department located the vehicle and attempted to stop the driver.
The driver fled at a high rate of speed and Pleasant Prairie police officers pursued him, Covelli said.
They successfully used a tire deflating device in the area of Kilbourne Road and Russell Road south of the Illinois-Wisconsin border.
Even though one of the Lexus’ tires was deflated, the driver continued fleeing at a high rate of speed, Covelli said.
Pleasant Prairie police officers discontinued chasing the driver of the Lexus in the area of Kilbourne Road and Hickory Road in unincorporated Zion.
The driver of the Lexus continued driving recklessly and excessively fast, Covelli said.
The Lexus disregarded the red light at Kilbourne Road and Route 173 and entered the intersection, colliding with a GMC Yukon.
The driver of the Lexus, who was the only occupant, was killed.
Covelli said a 51-year-old from Waukegan who was the front-seat passenger in the GMC sustained critical injuries and was transported to an area hospital.
The driver of the GMC, a 30-year-old Waukegan man, was also injured. He suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
A 20-year-old Waukegan woman, a 28-year-old Waukegan man, a 15-year-old Waukegan boy, a 15-year-old Montogomery girl, an 11-year-old Waukegan girl and an eight-year-old Waukegan girl who were all rear passengers suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
An autopsy on the driver of the Lexus was scheduled for Monday by the Lake County Coroner’s Office.
Covelli said the driver of the Lexus, whose name is being withheld pending notification to next of kin, had a revoked driver’s license, an active arrest warrant out of Lake County for possessing methamphetamine and was a suspect in several area burglaries.
The crash remains under investigation by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Technical Crash Investigations Team.