The sheriff says a driver fled but was arrested and charged after causing a multiple-vehicle crash that left a car rolled over and five people hospitalized along Route 31 near Crystal Lake.
The Crystal Lake Fire Rescue Department and McHenry County Sheriff’s Office responded around 6:15 a.m. Monday to TC Industries, 3703 Route 31 in unincorporated Crystal Lake, for a vehicle crash with injuries.
Crystal Lake Deputy Fire Chief Mark Menzel said the call was upgraded to a vehicle crash with entrapment while crews were responding due to reports of someone possibly trapped in a rolled-over car.
Emergency crews arrived and reported finding a four-vehicle crash on Route 31 near Half Mile Road, Menzel said.
No one was inside the rolled-over vehicle. They had escaped from the car prior to the fire department’s arrival, Menzel said.
McHenry County Sheriff’s Office Communication Specialist Emily Matusek-Baker said an investigation showed a 2011 Kia was traveling northbound on Route 31 when it attempted to pass in a no-passing zone.
The Kia sideswiped two vehicles, a minivan and a Toyota Prius, and then lost control before rolling over multiple times.
The Kia struck a Jeep Wrangler in the process, Matusek-Baker said. The Kia came to rest on its roof near Half-Mile Road.
The driver of the Kia fled the scene of the crash on foot and was found approximately 30 minutes later by a canine unit, Matusek-Baker said.
Three ambulances were dispatched to the scene and five people were transported to Northwestern Medicine Huntley Hospital and Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital.
Menzel said they suffered injuries that were not life-threatening. The Cary Fire Protection District covered Crystal Lake’s fire station with an ambulance during the incident.
A woman told Lake and McHenry County Scanner that her husband came across the crash before first responders arrived.
He saw the heavily damaged vehicle rolled over, with no one inside, and a large debris field across the roadway. He also saw a Jeep involved that sustained side damage.
Another woman told Lake and McHenry County Scanner that her son was nearly involved in the crash after one of the tires from the vehicles came flying at him. He stopped at the scene, called 911 and waited for emergency crews.
The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office sent an alert warning motorists to avoid the area due to the crash.
Route 31 was completely shut down from Edgewood Road to East Brighton Lane and reopened just before 9 a.m.
The driver of the Kia was cited for fleeing the scene of a crash and passing in a no-passing zone, Matusek-Baker said.