Driver Killed, 8 Hurt In Crash After Police Chase: Lake County Sheriff

The incident occurred around 4:30 p.m. Saturday in the area of Route 173 and Kilbourne Road in unincorporated Lake County near Zion and involved a stolen Lexus GS400 and a GMC Yukon, according to the sheriff's office.

Prior to the crash, the driver of the Lexus, a 32-year-old man from Salem, Wisconsin, fled Pleasant Prarie, Wisconsin, at a high speed, authorities said. Police pursued the vehicle and used a deflating device near Russell but despite the Lexus losing air in one tire, the driver continued to flee, and police stopped following the vehicle in the area of Kilbourne and Hickory roads near Zion, according to the sheriff's office.

The driver of the Lexus went on traveling recklessly and excessively fast, blowing a red light and colliding with the Yukon, police said. His name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin, according to the sheriff's office. He had a revoked license and an arrest warrant out of Lake County for methamphetamine possession, and police believed he may have had a connection to several area burglaries, authorities said.

A 51-year-old passenger in the front seat of the Yukon was critically injured, according to the sheriff's office. The driver, a 30-year-old man from Waukegan, suffered injuries that were not life-threatening, as did several other passengers, including a 20-year-old Waukegan woman, a 28-year-old Waukegan man, a 15-year-old boy from Waukegan, a 15-year-old girl from Montgomery, an 11-year-old girl from Waukegan and an 8-year-old girl from Waukegan, police said.