Teen Dead, 5 Hurt In Rogers Park Crash
Updated 01/22/11 - 12:10 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) - A teenage girl was killed early Saturday when a speeding SUV she was riding in blew a stop sign and hit a car in the Rogers Park neighborhood.
Five other people, including the driver of the SUV, were injured in the wreck.
The crash happened at about 2 a.m. in the 6700 block of North Artesian Avenue, police said. Rogers Park District police Lt. Donald Holmen said the SUV was going north on Artesian Avenue when it struck another vehicle that was going west on North Shore.
A passenger in the SUV -- Bahra Echmail, 17, of the 5700 block of North Washtenaw Avenue -- was pronounced dead at 3:14 a.m. at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, officials said.
A 20-year-old man, whose birthday is Saturday, was behind the wheel of the 2003 Ford Explorer SUV and apparently was speeding and failed to stop at a stop sign, police said. The SUV hit a 1997 Nissan Maxima driven by a 23-year-old man.
After the collision, the SUV continued north and hit two parked cars, a 1994 4-door Chevrolet and a 1994 Toyota Camry. The SUV came to rest after jumping the curb and hitting a tree on the west side of Artesian Avenue, Mirabelli said.
The occupants of the SUV had to be extricated, including the girl who died, Holmen said.
The lone occupant of the Maxima was not hospitalized but five survivors in the SUV were.
The 20-year-old driver and a 16-year-old girl were both taken in critical condition to Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston, while a 17-year-old male was in "guarded" or serious to critical condition, also at Saint Francis, Mirabelli said.
Two 15-year-old girls were in "stable" condition, one at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge and the other at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, the officer said.
Initially after the crash, Fire Media Affairs spokesman Will Knight said six people were taken to area hospitals in serious-to-critical condition -- three to Advocate Lutheran General in Park Ridge, two to Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston and one to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Knight said.
An EMS Plan I -- which automatically sends five ambulances to the scene -- was called as emergency officials responded to the wreck, he said.
The police Major Accidents Investigation Unit is investigating.
(The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.)
