An early morning drive on Chicago's Southwest Side ended with a 25-year-old man in handcuffs after police say his SUV ran a red light, hit a pickup truck and then plowed into the front of a building. The crash injured multiple people and briefly shut down the busy intersection as officers and firefighters worked the scene and interviewed stunned witnesses.
Crash details
Chicago police say the collision happened around 3:30 a.m. in the 5400 block of South Pulaski Road, when a black SUV heading north on Pulaski went through a red light at 55th Street and broadsided a blue pickup truck traveling west through the intersection, as reported by ABC7 Chicago. Video from the scene shows the SUV slamming into the pickup and then continuing into a storefront, where it came to rest against the building's front. Four people were in the SUV, and authorities said the two women and another man riding with the driver all refused medical treatment at the scene.
Injuries and hospitals
The 25-year-old SUV driver suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in fair condition, police told CBS Chicago. The pickup's driver declined medical help, but a female passenger in that truck was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital with injuries that were not immediately specified and is expected to be OK, according to authorities. Officials had not yet released the drivers' names or the full extent of the damage to the building.
Police response and next steps
Officers arrested the SUV driver at the scene, and charges were still pending as of Sunday morning, with detectives yet to detail the specific counts, ABC7 Chicago reported. Investigators continued gathering surveillance footage and witness statements, and city inspectors may be called in to assess the storefront for structural damage. Anyone with additional information or video from the area is asked to contact Chicago police area detectives, according to the reports.
