Car Crash in Dekalb, Illinois

Late last night, at about 10:20 p.m., at the corner of South 10th Street and Prospect in DeKalb, Illinois, there was a serious two car accident.

Police were heard to say that a mid-sized light colored car driven by a woman was hit in the side by a black car driven by a man. Both cars spun out. The woman's car ended up on the lawn, inches away from a large SUV. The entire driver's side of the car was crushed inwards, and the trunk area was also severely damaged. The woman was tossed from the driver's seat into the passenger seat, where she sat as neighbors talked with her until the ambulance arrived. The rear right tire of her car dug deep into the frozen lawn and ultimately stopped the car's progress.

The larger, black car was tossed into the side of a telephone pole, breaking the pole off half way up. The top portion was sheared in two and lay on the ground, and a wire lay across the intersection until the DeKalb Fire Department clipped it off and removed it. The black car's front end was badly damaged.

Witnesses from the neighborhood said that the man was injured, with blood coming from a wound on his head. He was dressed in dark clothing with some kind of a dark jacket. He got out of the car and talked briefly to neighbors, saying "I'm going to get arrested." Then he walked north on the sidewalk, and cut between the houses to the east.

Police were heard to say, about 20 minutes later, that a suspect had been arrested, and that they were familiar with him. A neighbor said he knew the man and that he was on probation already.

Neighbors huddled in the cold, checked on the woman in the car, and waited. The Fire Department ambulance arrived quickly, with paramedics, and they pried open the passenger side door and placed the woman on a stretcher and then into the ambulance.

At this time it is not known how she is doing, but she seemed to be in shock at the time of the accident. She and the driver of the other vehicle were the only to people involved.

While the exact cause of this accident is not known, neighbors say that many cars exceed the speed limit on this stretch of road, and that a few months ago, during bad weather, someone took the gentle curve a block away and lost control, running up onto the lawns and knocking over a post that was cemented into the ground. The faint tire track scars on the lawn can still be seen. South 10th Street dead ends into Taylor Street, but still gets a substantial amount of traffic during the day, as it links up with Lincoln Highway to the north.

Sources: Local residents, DeKalb Police Department