A woman has been charged with reckless homicide and DUI after causing a high-speed rollover crash on Route 41 in Highland Park that ejected her 34-year-old passenger, leaving him dead.
The Highland Park Police Department and Highland Park Fire Department responded around 3:25 a.m. on November 24, 2024, to the 2300 block of Skokie Valley Road in Highland Park, which is between Half Day Road and Park Avenue West, for a report of a vehicle crash with injuries.
Police officers and firefighters arrived and found one person who was ejected from the vehicle along with other passengers who were injured in the southbound lanes of Route 41, according to fire department radio traffic.
The vehicle involved, a 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee, sustained heavy damage after crashing into a utility pole.
One passenger was trapped inside the Jeep, according to radio traffic.
The City of Highland Park said that the driver of the Jeep lost control and crashed. The Jeep was occupied by three other passengers.
An investigation showed the Jeep was traveling southbound when the vehicle drove off the roadway and struck a utility pole before rolling over.
Cameron Faulkner, 34, of Chicago, who was in the rear passenger seat, was ejected from the vehicle, Banek said.
Faulkner was transported to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville where he died.
Technicians from ComEd were called to tend to the damaged utility pole and hanging wires.
The Lake County Major Crash Assistance Team (MCAT) responded due to the severity of the crash.
Southbound Route 41 between Half Day Road and Park Avenue West was shut down for the crash investigation.
The northbound lanes remained open. The southbound lanes were reopened just before 8 a.m.
The MCAT investigation recently concluded and the case was presented to a Lake County grand jury late last month.
The jury returned a 13-count indictment charging the driver, Alexis Reynolds, 28, of Chicago, with five counts of aggravated driving under the influence causing a crash involving death, three counts of reckless homicide and five counts of driving under the influence.
The indictment said Reynolds was driving under the combined influence of alcohol and drugs.
She had a blood alcohol concentration of more than the legal limit of 0.08 and also had a tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) concentration of 5 ng/ml or more.
Reynolds also drove at least 35 mph or more in excess of the speed limit at the time of the crash, which resulted in the Jeep rolling over multiple times after hitting the pole.
She faces up to 14 years in prison if convicted of the charges. An arrest warrant was issued for Reynolds after the indictment was returned.
The warrant remains active as of Monday and Reynolds is not in custody yet.