The coroner has released the identity of a 61-year-old man who died after he was left unresponsive and trapped in a head-on crash that also left a woman trapped and injured near Spring Grove.
An autopsy performed showed Michael De Brock, 61, of Spring Grove, died as a result of blunt force trauma from a vehicle crash, McHenry County Coroner Dr. Michael Rein said on Friday.
The Spring Grove Fire Protection District and McHenry County Sheriff’s Office responded around 6:45 p.m. on January 24 to the area of Main Street and Villa Vista in unincorporated Spring Grove for a report of a vehicle crash with injuries.
The sheriff’s office said that a preliminary investigation showed a 2004 Volvo, driven by De Brock, was traveling eastbound on Main Street and a 2013 Cadillac Escalade was traveling westbound on Main Street.
The Volvo crossed into the westbound lane of travel for unknown reasons as it was approaching the curve in the roadway.
The front left of each vehicle struck in an offset, head-on crash, the sheriff’s office said.
The Volvo came to rest on the south shoulder area of the roadway. The Cadillac came to rest in the north ditch area.
Fox Lake Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Ted Damos said the crash occurred directly in front of Fox Lake Fire Station #4, 911 Main Street, at the curve in the roadway.
While the call originated in Spring Grove’s fire district, Fox Lake firefighters heard bystanders yelling for help and went outside to find the two-vehicle crash.
The cars had collided head-on and sustained heavy damage, Damos said.
De Brock and the driver of the Cadillac, a 55-year-old Spring Grove woman, were trapped inside their cars and Fox Lake and Spring Grove firefighters began extricating them.
Damos said Spring Grove crews extricated De Brock in the Volvo.
Fox Lake crews extricated the 55-year-old woman from the Cadillac.
De Brock was transported by ambulance to Northwestern Medicine Hospital in McHenry where he died, the sheriff’s office said.
He was unconscious and not breathing at the scene and paramedics had performed lifesaving measures on him, Damos said.
While Damos said the passenger in the Cadillac, a 52-year-old man, was not trapped and did not require medical treatment, the sheriff’s office said the man was transported to Northwestern Medicine Hospital in McHenry.
The 55-year-old woman driving the Cadillac was also transported to Northwestern Medicine Hospital in McHenry.
Both occupants of the Cadillac suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Main Street was shut down between Cuneo Drive and State Park Road for several hours for the investigation.
Sheriff’s officials said De Brock was not wearing his seatbelt but the two occupants in the Cadillac were wearing theirs. Airbags deployed in both vehicles.
The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office Major Traffic Crash Investigation Unit and McHenry County Coroner’s Office are continuing to investigate the crash.