A 16-year-old boy was critically injured in a single-vehicle crash Tuesday afternoon in unincorporated Lake County.
About 4:55 p.m., deputies responded to the crash near the intersection of U.S Route 45 and Grand Avenue in unincoporated Lake Villa after witnesses reported seeing a vehicle drive off the roadway and strike a gas line, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
When they arrived, deputies found a red 2000 Ford Expedition on the east side of the roadway that had sustained significant damage, the sheriff’s office said. As reported, the Expedition had struck a gas line, which was actively leaking.
The boy, who was the Expedition’s sole occupant, was pulled from the SUV and brought away from the leak, the sheriff’s office said.
He was taken in critical condition to Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, the sheriff’s office said.
An investigation found he was driving south on Route 45 when he left the roadway for an unknown reason, the sheriff’s office said. The Expedition then struck a tree and the gas line.
The crash remains under investigation.
