Car flies off Chicago area expressway, hits building, catches fire
NORTHBROOK, Ill. (CBS) -- A driver was taken to the hospital Tuesday afternoon, after a car went flying off the Edens Expressway and crashing into a building in north suburban Northbrook.
Northbrook police said around 12:05 p.m., a vehicle left the inbound lanes of the Edens Expressway, crashing through a fence dividing the expressway from the frontage road, and crashed into the Lewis Floor & Home store at 1840 Skokie Blvd.
Along with the wire fence along the road, some decorative columns and trees were damaged. No customers or employees were near the spot where the car hit, and the Northbrook Fire Department said the driver was the only one in the car.
However, the crash caused the car and building to catch on fire. Northbrook firefighters put out the fire, which caused minor damage to the outside of the building. The crash did not cause any structural damage to the building.
One witness who was driving on Skokie Boulevard said he saw the car fly over his head after it left the Edens Expressway. He said the car was already on fire before it struck the building.
Steven Lewis owns the store into which the car crashed. He said he had never seen a car leave the Edens.
"The good news is that nobody is hurt. The building is still structurally sound, and it's just property damage," Lewis told CBS 2's Charlie De Mar. "This could have been a whole lot worse. Never have I had an incident like this, so it's a little shaky."
The driver was treated on the scene, and was taken to Highland Park Hospital with what appeared to be non-life-threatening injuries.
Witnesses also said a man in a black Mercedes pulled the driver out of her burning car before first responders arrived.
The car did not have any license plates.
A police report showed the driver is from Wisconsin, and was driving her 1997 Buick without insurance.
Illinois State Police were investigating the cause of the crash.
