An Illinois car crash has claimed the life of a woman from Bolingbrook when an alleged drunk SUV driver crashed through her apartment window early Saturday morning, according to WGN news. The 17-year-old driver was arrested after the accident and another person was being questioned. The investigation is being handled by the Bolingbrook Police Department, and the Will County States Attorneys Office is in the process of determining what charges are to be filed.
Police suspect the teen had been drinking alcohol. The teen was reportedly lost control of his vehicle, left a roadway and crashed through a bedroom window of a first-floor apartment where the woman was sleeping. The victim, age 48, was trapped underneath the SUV after it struck the apartment.
Before impact, the SUV reportedly traveled through a common area at the apartment complex, passed by another building, and then hit the victim’s apartment. The woman’s husband was also in bed act the time of the accident. He survived and was taken by ambulance to Adventist Bolingbrook Hospital.
While this seems like a bizarre accident, vehicles crashing into buildings is not uncommon in the Chicago area. However, this is the first time in recent memory I can recall someone being killed in such an accident.
Chicago personal injury attorneys at Abels & Annes have handled two accident claims over the past several years where a plaintiff was injured after a vehicle struck a building. In one case, our client was at home in bed in a first-floor bedroom when an elderly neighbor hit her accelerator instead of the brakes while trying to park her car. The driver drove right into our client’s house, hitting the bed she was sleeping in.
In another case, we worked on an injury claim for man who was eating at a restaurant in downtown Chicago when the driver lost control of his vehicle, drove into the establishment, and struck several patrons.
Click here to see a photo of Saturday morning’s accident.