Feb. 21--A man was critically hurt and two Chicago police officers were wounded during a car crash early Sunday in the Cragin neighborhood on the Northwest Side.
Around 1:10 a.m., a dark Ford cargo van failed to stop at the red light in the 3200 block of North Long Avenue and struck a police SUV as well as two parked cars and a street pole before coming to a stop, according to police.
Shortly before the accident, another pair of police officers had pulled the van over. As officers walked up to the vehicle, the van sped off, said Officer Hector Alfaro, a police spokesman.
A 35-year-old man who was driving the van was taken in critical condition to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Alfaro said.
Two male officers suffered non-life-threatening injuries and were taken to area hospitals, Alfaro said.
Four passengers inside the van refused medical attention, said Chicago Fire Department Chief Juan Hernandez.
The driver of the van was in custody, and charges against him were pending.
Early Sunday morning, police officers blocked off the intersection of Belmont and Long avenues with yellow crime tape.
A police SUV with a smashed front was in the middle of the intersection.
A silver car parked on Long just south of Belmont had a wrecked rear. The impact made that car in turn crash into another parked car in front of it.
The dark van stood on the sidewalk just south of the parked cars it smashed into. A street pole lay in front of the van. Shattered glass and broken car parts peppered the intersection.
Four male passengers from the van sat on the curb in handcuffs in front of a convenience store near the accident scene. A group of police officers stood next to them.
As officers investigated the crash, about a dozen people gathered on all sides of the accident scene to see what happened.
Robert Polinski and his wife, who live about a block away from where the crash happened, were at home watching TV when they heard a loud boom outside.
"It sounded like a semi hit something," Polinski said.
