Distracted driver crashes, causing power outage for over 200 in Chicago
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Crews on Chicago's Southwest Side were cleaning up a real mess in an alley Sunday afternoon. A distracted driver knocked out power to 220 people in the West Lawn neighborhood after crashing into three electrical poles.
Police say Saturday in the 6100 block of South Kolin, a 51-year-old man was driving northbound when something inside of the car distracted him.
Crews worked all Sunday to clean the mess.
"I couldn't imagine that one car could do all this damage," said Marco Venebra Sr.
Video from the Citizen App shows the SUV drive through the poles and trash cans and even hit garages.
"I saw all the disaster. I can't believe it," said Venebra Sr.
His son, Marco Venebra Jr., says he was home with his dad when he saw an explosion from the transformer.
"I heard it and then I saw the pole fall," he said.
They took pictures of the aftermath showing snapped poles, trash cans scattered, and the SUV that crashed.
The driver was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center where he was treated for unknown injuries.
Venebra Jr. says police arrived quickly.
"They came in through here, a little bit closer, and they kept telling everyone to go back home, to go back inside because things could still happen, like an explosion. I think [the wires were] still live," he said.
Soon after the crash, they lost power. But it wasn't just them.
ComEd says the outage affected 220 people who were without power for about 13 hours.
The driver was issued two citations.
