The coroner has released the identity of a 26-year-old man who was killed after he crashed his car into a tree and was ejected from the vehicle Monday morning near Antioch.
An autopsy performed Tuesday showed Joseph Eli, 26, of Neenah, Wisconsin, died as a result of blunt force injuries as a result of a vehicle crash, according to Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Antioch Fire Protection District responded around 4:45 a.m. Monday to the area of Grass Lake Road and Bluff Lane in unincorporated Antioch.
Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said deputies received a report of a vehicle that had struck a tree.
Deputies arrived and found a 2009 Pontiac Vibe located on the south side of the roadway.
Covelli said that both the car and the tree had major damage from the collision.
The driver, later identified as Eli, was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from the vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Covelli said Eli was the sole occupant of the car.
Grass Lake Road between Rena Avenue and North Lake Shore Drive was shut down for the investigation.
It reopened just before 8 a.m. but crash investigators remained on the scene as they continued to investigate.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Technical Crash Investigations Team.