Teen Dies After Car Hits Tree In Arlington Heights
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS (CBS) -- A 16-year-old boy was killed when the car he was riding in slammed into a tree early Thursday morning, while driving on a wet and snowy road in Arlington Heights.
Arlington Heights police and fire crews responded to a crash in the 400 block of South Windsor Drive around 12:40 a.m. Thursday, police said. A 2000 Hyundai Sonata had struck a large tree in the parkway, trapping the front seat passenger inside.
Paramedics assisted the 16-year-old driver while fire crews used rescue tools to cut off the car's roof and pull out the passenger, who was unconscious.
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An ambulance took the passenger, who suffered severe injuries, to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. He was pronounced dead shortly before 8 a.m., police said.
Officials have identified the victim as John Gavin, 16, of Arlington Heights.
A preliminary investigation determined the driver, a 16-year-old Arlington Heights resident, was driving slightly above the 25 mph speed limit and failed to negotiate a bend in the road. The car veered off the road and slammed into a tree on the passenger's side.
Both boys were wearing their seat belts and air bags deployed as designed, police said.
At the time of the crash, there were intermittent snow flurries and the street was wet, police said.
Alcohol is not suspected as a factor in the crash and no traffic citations or criminal charges have been filed as of 1 p.m., but the crash remained under investigation.
Police said that the Cook County Medical Examiner's office would review the case on Friday.
