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.