Elderly woman dies after crashing into building near Lincolnwood mall

An elderly Skokie woman died Wednesday night after she lost control of her vehicle and struck the side of a building in north suburban Lincolnwood.

Savita Patel, 78, was killed during the car wreck that unfolded as she was turning left outside the Kohl’s at Lincolnwood Town Center mall, 3333 W. Touhy Ave., according to Lincolnwood police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The car plowed into a parked car, which did not contain passengers inside, and careened until it hit the wall of a building, police said. She was taken to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, and her husband suffered non-lifethreatening injuries.

A preliminary investigation revealed Patel, who was driving with her husband in the passenger seat, accelerated due to what was believed to be a medical condition, police said.

A Friday autopsy found Patel’s cause of death was multiple blunt force injuries from a vehicle striking a building, the medical examiner’s office said. Her death, pronounced at 9:15 p.m. Wednesday, was ruled an accident.