A driver has been charged with being under the influence and causing a three-vehicle crash that left a 14-year-old boy and a 19-year-old woman dead in McHenry Monday morning.
The McHenry Police Department and McHenry Township Fire Protection District responded around 12:30 a.m. Monday to the area of Route 31, also known as Richmond Road, and McCullom Lake Road, for a vehicle crash with injuries.
McHenry Deputy Police Chief Thomas Walsh said officers arrived and found a three-vehicle crash.
An initial investigation determined a red 2006 Audi A4 had been traveling southbound on Richmond Road.
The Audi collided with a black 2015 Nissan Sentra in the intersection of McCullom Lake Road, Walsh said.
The collision also caused a 2003 Toyota Echo to be struck.
The Toyota was unoccupied and had been parked in a parking lot in the 1800 block of Richmond Road.
Walsh said there were two occupants in the Nissan, a 19-year-old woman and a 14-year-old boy.
Both of the occupants were pronounced dead at the scene by the McHenry County Coroner’s Office.
McHenry Township Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Chris Kozel said two of the victims were found on the ground and the third victim was trapped in his car and had to be extricated.
The driver of the Audi, identified as Jason K. Land, 18, of Fox River Grove, was transported to Northwestern Medicine Hospital McHenry with serious injuries, Walsh said.
Kozel said Land was in critical but stable condition.
Court records show Land was charged Monday afternoon with two counts of aggravated driving under the influence causing a crash involving death, a Class 2 felony, and four counts of driving under the influence, a Class A misdemeanor.
A criminal complaint filed in McHenry County Circuit Court alleges Land was driving under the influence of alcohol with a blood alcohol content over 0.08 and him being under the influence was a proximate cause of the crash.
Land has been released from the hospital and transported to the McHenry County Jail.
The McHenry Police Department said they are not releasing the names of the deceased to allow time for notifications to their families.
The McHenry County Regional Crash Assistance Team responded to the scene to assist in the investigation.
The team consists of police officers from the McHenry Police Department, Woodstock Police Department, Spring Grove Police Department, Harvard Police Department, Cary Police Department and Johnsburg Police Department.
Walsh said the intersection of Route 31 and McCullom Lake Road was partially closed for hours on Monday morning while the crash team conducted its investigation. As of 8 a.m., the roadways had been reopened.
Anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact the McHenry Police Department Criminal Investigation Division at 815-363-2599.
Those who wish to remain anonymous are encouraged to call the McHenry Police Department’s tip line at 815-363-2124.