Man charged with DUI in fatal Joliet rollover crash

SHARE Man charged with DUI in fatal Joliet rollover crash

A 24-year-old man is facing a DUI charge after his passenger was killed in a rollover crash early Sunday in southwest suburban Joliet.

A Dodge Neon SRT-4 was northbound on County Line Road near Black Road a few minutes after 3 a.m. when it went off the roadway to the left, over-corrected and headed right, jumped the curb, hit a small tree, took out an AT&T cellphone box, hit another tree, and flipped over several times, according to Joliet Deputy Police Chief Edgar Gregory.

An Uber driver witnessed the entire crash and said the Neon was traveling between 80-90 mph.

The car landed upright in a backyard in a subdivision in the 900 block of Hudson Drive after crashing through a wooden fence, Gregory said. The residents of the home saw the driver check the passenger’s pulse before climbing out of the driver’s side window and hopping a fence.

The residents followed the driver, whose face was bloodied, and pointed him out to police when they arrived.

The passenger, identified as 24-year-old John J. Burns of Plainfield, was taken to Presence Saint Joseph Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 4:07 a.m., according to the Will County coroner’s office. Preliminary findings from an autopsy Sunday showed Burns suffered multiple injuries in the crash, but final cause of death is pending police, autopsy and toxicology reports.

The driver, 24-year-old Timothy Griffin of Plainfield, was taken into custody, then taken to Saint Joseph’s for treatment of his injuries, Gregory said. He remained hospitalized as of Monday morning.

Griffin has been charged with DUI, Gregory said, but the charge may be upgraded. The investigation is ongoing.

The Latest
The man was found unresponsive in an alley in the 10700 block of South Lowe Avenue, police said.
The man suffered head trauma and was pronounced dead at University of Chicago Medical Center, police said.
Another federal judge in Chicago who also has dismissed gun cases based on the same Supreme Court ruling says the high court’s decision in what’s known as the Bruen case will “inevitably lead to more gun violence, more dead citizens and more devastated communities.”
Women make up just 10% of those in careers such as green infrastructure and clean and renewable energy, a leader from Openlands writes. Apprenticeships and other training opportunities are some of the ways to get more women into this growing job sector.
Chatterbox doesn’t seem aware that it’s courteous to ask questions, seek others’ opinions.