Three teenagers died, and another was critically hurt, after they allegedly fled a traffic stop Monday night and crashed into a semitrailer in west suburban Berkeley.
About 11 p.m., an officer saw a vehicle with no visible license plates and its lights off in an alley near a business, Berkeley Police Chief Tim Larem said in an emailed statement.
When the officer tried to curb the car, its driver sped off at a high rate of speed from the 5500 block of St. Charles Road, Larem said.
Within 30 seconds of fleeing, the driver went through a stop sign and crashed into a semitrailer at Bohlander and Taft avenues, Larem said.
Two people inside the car died at the scene, and another was pronounced dead later at a hospital, Larem said in an interview. A female teenager was listed in critical condition at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, he said.
One of the victims was Orkitt Gresham, 18, of Chicago, according to the DuPage County coroner’s office.
The Cook County medical examiner’s office did not immediately release their names of the other two fatalities.
Larem said the incident was “unusual for our town.”
Asked if the officer was actively chasing the teens during the crash, Larem said the investigation of that was “complicated” since the crash occurred so soon after the driver allegedly fled the traffic stop.
The Cook County sheriff’s office is assisting in the investigation into the crash, Larem said.
