A 19-year-old man was cited after police say he was speeding on Route 120 before colliding with a semi-truck in Gurnee, leading to his passenger being injured and another running away on foot Wednesday.
The Gurnee Police Department and Gurnee Fire Department responded around 1 p.m. Wednesday to Route 120 and Three Oaks Lane in Gurnee for a report of a vehicle crash.
The crash involved a Kenworth semi-truck and a Mercedes-Benz C300 sedan.
“While officers were en route to the scene, it was reported that a passenger from the Mercedes fled on foot,” Gurnee Police Department Public Information Officer Shawn Gaylor said.
Police officers and firefighter/paramedics arrived and found the Mercedes with heavy front-end damage.
Gurnee Battalion Fire Chief Tim Steffens said the semi-truck had an empty load.
The preliminary investigation shows the Mercedes, driven by a 19-year-old Kenosha man, was traveling eastbound on Route 120 at a high rate of speed, Gaylor said.
The Kenworth was on Three Oaks Lane and began turning onto the eastbound lanes of Route 120.
“As the truck entered the roadway, the Mercedes collided with the semi,” Gaylor said.
The Gurnee Police Department requested the Lake County Sheriff’s Office to help search the area for the passenger who ran away.
Two sheriff’s canine teams – Deputy John Forlenza and K-9 Lux and Deputy Kevin Gauer and K-9 Axel – searched the area.
The canines appeared to focus their searches heavily on the north side of Route 120 off Three Oaks Lane and Ashley Drive.
A drone was also used, but the passenger was not located.
It’s unclear why that passenger fled.
“This is an ongoing investigation, and officers are working to follow up with the individual,” Gaylor said.
Paramedics evaluated three people at the scene.
A male passenger in the Mercedes was transported to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville with a non-life-threatening but serious leg injury.
Both the 19-year-old driving the Mercedes and the male driver of the Kenworth refused to be transported to the hospital.
Police issued four citations to the 19-year-old – speeding, failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, driving too fast for the conditions and operating an uninsured motor vehicle.
The crash caused delays in both directions of Route 120 due to lane closures.
Lake County Towing and Fox Recovery & Towing responded to the scene to remove the Mercedes and Kenworth.
Lake County Towing took the Mercedes, while heavy wrecker equipment from Fox Recovery & Towing worked to remove the Kenworth.
Tow truck crews remained on the scene to clean up debris from the crash before all lanes of Route 120 were reopened.
The crash remains under investigation by the Gurnee Police Department.