A 47-year-old Geneva man died Thursday night after his Jeep left the roadway and slammed into a tree on the 1300 block of Crissey Avenue, a quiet stretch that quickly turned into an active crash scene. Emergency crews pulled the driver from the wreckage and rushed him to Delnor Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. Officials said the crash was first flagged to dispatch by an iPhone crash-detection alert.
According to a news release from the City of Geneva, the crash was reported to Tri-Com Central Dispatch at about 9:59 p.m. A preliminary investigation indicates a 2017 Jeep Renegade traveling north on Crissey Avenue veered off the roadway and hit a tree. The driver, identified as Joseph C. Fisher III, 47, of Geneva, was extricated from the vehicle and taken to Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 10:43 p.m. There were no passengers in the Jeep, and the Kane County coroner's office assisted Geneva police at the scene.
Emergency Response And Road Closure
Geneva Police, Batavia Police and Geneva Fire Department crews all responded to the crash, with Batavia officers handling traffic control while first responders worked around the wreckage, as reported by the Chicago Tribune. A section of Crissey Avenue was shut down for roughly three hours during the on-scene investigation and cleanup before the road was reopened to drivers.
How The Crash Was Reported
In its release, the city noted that the first alert about the crash came when an Apple iPhone Crash Detection notification pinged Tri-Com dispatchers, giving them a starting point for the emergency response. Apple Support explains that Crash Detection can automatically call emergency services and share a device's location after detecting what appears to be a severe collision, a feature officials said helped get crews to the scene quickly.
Investigation
Geneva police said the crash remains under investigation and that the Kane County coroner worked with officers at the scene. There was no indication of impairment, according to authorities, as reported by the Chicago Tribune. Officials have not released further details while detectives continue to examine what led up to the crash.
