A 17-year-old boy is dead after the sheriff says he crashed his BMW at high speed into a tree, which caused the engine to completely detach from the vehicle, in Deer Park Monday morning.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Lake Zurich Fire Rescue Department responded around 9:45 a.m. Monday to the area of Ela Road and Long Grove Road in Deer Park for a vehicle crash with injuries.
Multiple 911 callers reported the crash and said one person was unresponsive and not breathing at the scene.
Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said sheriff’s deputies arrived and located a BMW sedan with catastrophic damage.
A preliminary investigation shows the BMW, driven by a 17-year-old boy, was traveling at a high rate of speed southbound on Ela Road.
It appeared the driver lost control while traveling at the high speed and drove off the roadway where the BMW struck a tree, Covelli said.
The 17-year-old boy was pronounced deceased at the scene.
No other vehicles were involved in the crash and the driver was the sole occupant of his car, Covelli said.
The identity of the victim is being temporarily withheld and an autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday morning, the Lake County Coroner’s Office said.
Ela Road was completely shut down from Long Grove Road to Cuba Road during the investigation.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Technical Crash Investigation Team.