Firefighter/medics respond and ComEd field employees conduct repairs on a snapped utility pole after a man crashed his Jeep Wrangler into a utility pole while allegedly intoxicated in the northbound lanes of Route 45 at Walnut Street in Mundelein Sunday afternoon. | Background Photo: David Botello Gutierrez; Inset: Woo-Sung Shim / Lake and McHenry County Scanner
A man from Wisconsin was charged after he allegedly crashed into a utility pole while intoxicated on Route 45 in Mundelein Sunday afternoon, causing the pole to snap and shutting down the busy roadway.
The Mundelein Police Department and Mundelein Fire Department responded around 1:50 p.m. Sunday to Route 45 and Walnut Street in Mundelein for a report of a single-vehicle crash.
A 65-year-old man from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, crashed his Jeep Wrangler into a utility pole while allegedly intoxicated in the northbound lanes of Route 45 at Walnut Street in Mundelein Sunday afternoon. | Photo: David Botello Gutierrez
Police officers and firefighter/medics arrived to find a Jeep Wrangler that had crashed into a ComEd utility pole and caused it to snap.
Officers determined that the driver – a 65-year-old man from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin – struck the pole for an unknown reason, Mundelein Police Department Commander of Investigations Rick Wilfenger said.
Sturgeon Bay is a city in the Door Peninsula of northeast Wisconsin.
ComEd field employees conduct repairs on a snapped utility pole that was hit by an alleged intoxicated driver in the northbound lanes of Route 45 at Walnut Street in Mundelein Sunday afternoon. | Photo: Woo-Sung Shim / Lake and McHenry County Scanner
The identity or a booking photo of the man was not released.
Firefighter/medics transported him to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, where he was treated and released with non-life-threatening injuries.
ComEd field employees conduct repairs on a snapped utility pole that was hit by an alleged intoxicated driver in the northbound lanes of Route 45 at Walnut Street in Mundelein Sunday afternoon. | Photo: Woo-Sung Shim / Lake and McHenry County Scanner
“The male was then subsequently charged with DUI after signs of impairment were evident,” Wilfenger added.
He was released and issued a mandatory court appearance.
ComEd field employees speak with firefighter/medics during repair operations on a snapped utility pole that was hit by an alleged intoxicated driver in the northbound lanes of Route 45 at Walnut Street in Mundelein Sunday afternoon. | Photo: Woo-Sung Shim / Lake and McHenry County Scanner
David Botello Gutierrez told Lake & McHenry County Scanner that he was bowling inside the nearby Lakeside Recreation Center.
Gutierrez was in the parking lot of the bowling alley when he saw and heard the Jeep crash into the pole.
A Mundelein fire truck blocks traffic as ComEd field employees repair a snapped utility pole that was hit by an alleged intoxicated driver in the northbound lanes of Route 45 at Walnut Street in Mundelein Sunday afternoon. | Photo: Woo-Sung Shim / Lake and McHenry County Scanner
Gutierrez said the driver tried to leave the scene, hitting nearby curbs in the process, but was unsuccessful because of the damage to his Jeep.
Police officers arrived shortly after.
ComEd field employees conduct repairs on a snapped utility pole that was hit by an alleged intoxicated driver in the northbound lanes of Route 45 at Walnut Street in Mundelein Sunday afternoon. | Photo: Woo-Sung Shim / Lake and McHenry County Scanner
The snapped pole shut down the northbound lanes of Route 45 for several hours while numerous field employees with ComEd responded.
ComEd crews made repairs to the pole and were able to straighten it back out.
A Mundelein police officer controls traffic as ComEd field employees repair a snapped utility pole that was hit by an alleged intoxicated driver in the northbound lanes of Route 45 at Walnut Street in Mundelein Sunday afternoon. | Photo: Woo-Sung Shim / Lake and McHenry County Scanner
The Mundelein Police Department and Mundelein Fire Department assisted with traffic and road closures during the repair operations.
The northbound lanes were reopened later in the evening.
