Driver of stolen car killed while fleeing from police, 8 others injured

A Wisconsin man was killed Saturday while driving a stolen car and eight other people, including four children, were injured when he crashed while fleeing police in northern Lake County, authorities said Sunday.

Authorities said the 32-year-old Salem, Wisconsin, man was spotted driving a stolen Lexus GS400 in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, on Saturday afternoon. When police tried to stop him, he sped off and began a chase that took him into Illinois, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

Police successfully deployed a tire-deflating device in the area of ​​Kilbourne and Russell roads in Newport Township, but the Wisconsin man continued to drive recklessly and at excessive speeds, prompting officers to abandon the pursuit, authorities said.

At around 4:30 p.m., the driver of the Lexus ran a red light at the intersection of Kilbourne Road and Route 173 and collided with a GMC Yukon at the intersection, according to the sheriff’s office.

The driver of the Lexus was killed in the crash, and a 51-year-old Waukegan resident who was in the front seat of the Yukon suffered serious injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital, authorities said.

The driver of the GMC, a 30-year-old Waukegan man, and his passengers – a 20-year-old Waukegan woman, a 28-year-old Waukegan man, a 15-year-old Waukegan boy, a 15-year-old Montgomery girl, an 11-year-old Waukegan girl and an 8-year-old Waukegan girl – all suffered non-life-threatening injuries, officials said.

The driver of the Lexus, whose name is being withheld pending notification of his family, had a suspended license and a Lake County warrant for his arrest for possession of methamphetamine. He had been involved in several burglaries in the area, according to the sheriff’s office.

The accident remains under investigation by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Technical Accident Investigation Team.