Police in Zion, Illinois are looking into a deadly car accident that might have been recorded during a TikTok livestream. The crash happened on November 3 around 5:30 pm at the corner of Sheridan Road and 33rd Street in this Chicago suburb.
According to TMZ, a 43-year-old woman was driving a 2015 Ford Edge when she hit 59-year-old Darren Lucas as he was crossing the road. Emergency workers rushed Lucas to Vista East Medical Center, but doctors could not save him. Medical examiners later said he died from the serious injuries he got in the crash.
Days after the accident, a video started making the rounds online. It showed a TikTok user called Tea_Tyme_3 who appeared to be filming herself while driving. In the clip, people watching could hear a loud bang, and then the driver started screaming. “F***, f***, f***. I just hit somebody,” the woman said in the recording. Someone who sounded like a child asked, “What was that?” right before the video cut off.
This whole thing could have been avoided
The woman who was driving stayed where the accident happened and called 911 right away. She talked with the police when they showed up. Lt. Paul Kehrli from the Zion Police Department said they don’t think alcohol or drugs played any part in what happened. Officers are now trying to make sure the livestream video is real.
Someone on Reddit said they were actually watching the livestream when the crash happened, and they described feeling shocked by what they saw. This person wrote that the driver “wasn’t paying attention to the road because she was reading comments and grinning at her phone.” They also said, “A man died because she wanted attention from a livestream.”
Lucas had a job at Torres Fresh Market, which is a grocery store right across the street from where he got hit. His son-in-law, Chris King, talked about how hard this has been for the family. “We are trying to find our ways to live, without someone we cherished so much,” King said to the Lake and McHenry County Scanner. He also mentioned that his family would “continue to pray for what the driver must be going through.”
After the video went viral, the TikTok account was switched to private mode. The person running it changed their username and removed details from their bio that used to mention living in Zion, Illinois. The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office said they know about the video but can’t say much more while they’re still investigating.
Nobody has been arrested yet, and the Zion Police Department along with the Lake County Major Crash Assistance Team are still working on the case. This sad case brings to mind other recent stories about young drivers causing fatal crashes shortly after getting their licenses.
Experts have been warning for years that using your phone while driving makes crashes much more likely to happen. Many people die every year because drivers don’t pay attention to the road, showing just how dangerous it is when people don’t focus on driving safely and paying attention behind the wheel.
