1 dead, 2 hurt after stolen vehicle hits house
Chicago police were pursuing Jeep on Far South Side
A teenage boy was killed and two other teenagers were injured when a stolen vehicle crashed into a house in the Fernwood neighborhood Thursday night on the Far South Side, according to authorities.
Police tried to stop the Jeep about 7:20 p.m. near West 107th Street and South Wentworth Avenue, Chicago police spokesman Sgt. Rocco Alioto said at the scene. The vehicle fled, triggering a pursuit. Officers spotted the Jeep near 103rd Street, going at high speed, and when it hit a dip in the road, the 17-year-old driver of the Jeep lost control, with the Jeep jumping the curb and crossing “numerous” front lawns, according to a police crash report.
The driver lost control in the 10200 block of South Wentworth, Alioto said, “striking a building, causing major structural damage.”
The driver’s name had not yet been released by the Cook County medical examiner’s office Friday evening.
The vehicle crashed into the house about 7:30 p.m., said Frank Velez, a commander with the Chicago Fire Department.
The driver of the Jeep was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the report. The two passengers, a 17-year-old girl and a 16year-old boy, both suffered abrasions in the crash, according to the report. The two passengers were taken in fair condition to Comer Children’s Hospital, Velez said.
The house was occupied, but no one inside was injured, police said. Peoples Gas was on the scene in the event of a gas leak, Alioto said.
Four others at the scene declined to be taken to a hospital, according to Velez.
The vehicle that crashed was reported stolen Tuesday in the 2000 block of East 95th Street, according to a police source and the police report.
The fatal crash brought out community activist Eric Russell, who said although he does not support juveniles allegedly breaking the law, Chicago police have a record of what he described as “reckless” vehicle chases.
He pointed out the Memorial Day weekend death of Verona Gunn, who was fatally struck after Chicago police vehicles collided while responding to an emergency call in Austin.
“We were absolutely outraged once again the Chicago police just refused to respectfully engage our community,” Russell said at the scene. “This is a residential, area and there are rules and regulations to be adhered to as it relates to high-speed chases.”
According to the Chicago police directives system, all vehicle pursuits must meet a “balancing test” to commence. The threshold is described as any situation in which the necessity to take the suspect into custody outweighs the danger of a chase. Certain safety considerations include speed, volume of pedestrian and vehicular traffic, and weather and road conditions.
Glenn Thomas, a Cook County Board Up enclosure specialist, stood by at the scene waiting to see if the vehicle would be pulled out of the house so he could help repair the building.
The vehicle was covered in debris from the house, and it appeared the vehicle’s roof was pulled back, he said.
“You can’t even tell if it’s an SUV or a regular car,” he said.
Marilyn Clay, who lives nearby on 104th Place, said her granddaughter called her because a car ran into her friend’s house, so Clay walked over to see what happened. She knows at least three people live in the house that was struck and that they normally don’t sit in the front of the house, where the vehicle had crashed.
“I was a little scared,” said Jawonn George, who came to scene with Clay. “It’s kind of a pity he died. It’s just sad.”
Kevin Lillybridge, 60, was about to walk his cocker spaniel, named Coco, when he saw police lights down their usual route. His family has owned a home in the nearby Roseland neighborhood for more than 50 years, but he’s noticed families who had been there for generations had started leaving years ago. More crime has come in, he said, and it isn’t shocking to hear what happened, as he noticed people often speed through the area. But many people in the area are hardworking and not involved in crime, he said.
“When you see stuff like that, Roseland gets an eyesore. But it’s not like that,” he said. “I think that’s just unfair.”