A woman allegedly drove drunk, went the wrong way on Washington Street in Gurnee and crashed her Tesla head-on into a work truck, injuring herself and her passenger, Saturday evening.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Gurnee Fire Department responded around 10:45 p.m. Saturday to Washington Street east of Route 45 in unincorporated Gurnee for a two-vehicle crash with injuries.
Deputies and firefighter/paramedics arrived to find a Tesla Model 3 and a Ford F-350 that had crashed into each other head-on, Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said.
The Ford was a landscaping work truck with a snowplow attached.
A preliminary investigation shows the driver of the Tesla – Phyllichia D. Hill, 41, of Kenosha, Wisconsin – was traveling westbound in the eastbound lanes of Washington Street.
The driver of the Ford was traveling eastbound in the correct lanes of traffic, Covelli said.
As the Tesla approached, the Ford attempted to avoid hitting it, but both vehicles crashed head-on.
The Tesla sustained damage to its front, while the snowplow attached to the Ford appeared to take the brunt of the impact.
The driver of the Ford did not require transport to the hospital, Covelli said.
Hill and her passenger were transported to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville with non-life-threatening injuries.
A person on the Neighbors app said they saw the Tesla driving the wrong way on Washington Street from Almond Road in Gurnee.
The person called 911, and the crash occurred while they were on the phone with dispatchers.
“I was following a Tesla driving on the wrong side of the road all the way from almond. Was on the phone with 911 and then they hit landscape truck with a plow. It was bad,” the person said.
The crash caused a portion of Washington Street to be shut down while emergency and tow truck crews tended to the crash.
Deputies found Hill was allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol.
Hill was subsequently charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, reckless driving, open transportation of alcohol and driving in the wrong lane of a divided highway.
Hill has had a prior DUI case in Lake County, court records show.
In September 2022, she was caught driving under the influence of alcohol in Lake Zurich.
She was charged with two counts of DUI and was cited for speeding, but she took a negotiated plea deal and pleaded guilty to one count of DUI, court records show.
She was sentenced to 12 months of court supervision and was ordered to pay court fines and fees.
Hill is scheduled to appear at the Lake County Courthouse on March 11 for this most recent DUI case.