1 killed, 4 others injured in crash involving police in Spring Grove, Illinois
One person was killed and a helicopter rushed one of four other people who were hurt to the hospital on Sunday afternoon after a serious crash involving police in Spring Grove, Illinois, near the Wisconsin state line.
Spring Grove police were responding to assist another department at 2:05 p.m. Sunday when an officer was involved in a crash at Illinois Route 12 and Spring Grove Road, police said.
Preliminary investigation by the McHenry County Sheriff's Office indicated that the police vehicle, a 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe, was traveling westbound on Route 12 with its emergency lights and siren activated while responding to a call for service in another jurisdiction. The traffic signal for westbound Route 12 was red as the Tahoe entered the intersection.
While entering the intersection, the Tahoe collided with a 2015 Kia Soul traveling southbound on Winn Road. The Tahoe then entered the eastbound lane, where it hit a 2022 Jeep Compass head-on. The Jeep was then hit by an eastbound 2023 Honda CR-V.
Footage from the scene showed one of the vehicles lost its engine.
A 65-year-old woman in the Kia Soul was taken to Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Another occupant of the Kia, a 65-year-old man, was flown to Javon Bea Hospital in Rockford with serious injuries.
The officer in the Tahoe, a 60-year-old man, was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and later released. The driver and passenger of the Jeep were also taken to a local hospital and later released.
The driver and two passengers of the Honda CR-V were not hurt.
A witness described the aftermath.
"We witnessed a cop being pinned in his vehicle right after the accident happened. I'm pretty sure we witnessed him go straight from the cop car right to the stretcher. It was pretty much right as the helicopter was also showing up as well," the witness said. "It was just kind of a pretty crazy situation."
The McHenry County Sheriff's Major Crash Unit was handling the investigation.
