Web Extra! Updated 2/1/2010 4:37 p.m.
A 16-year-old boy from Oak Park is in critical condition at Loyola University Medical Center after his SUV slammed into a light pole in North Riverside early Sunday morning. The boy and six others were hospitalized after an accident at the intersection of Cermak Road and 14th Avenue at about 8 a.m. Sunday.
North Riverside Deputy Police Chief Lane Niemann said that of the seven juveniles in the gray 2001 Dodge Durango, only the driver sustained what he called life-threatening injuries. The boy reportedly suffered a broken hip, broken leg, internal bleeding, a ruptured bladder and head injuries.
Niemann had no information on the ages or hometowns of the six juveniles who were passengers in the SUV.
The driver had to be pulled from the vehicle by North Riverside Fire Department personnel, said Niemann, because the light pole was embedded in the driver’s side door.
The crash is still under investigation, Niemann said. However, Westchester police reported, according to Niemann, that a vehicle matching the description of the SUV was involved in a hit-and-run accident in that village shortly before the crash in North Riverside.
The accident was reportedly the subject of widespread rumors among students at Oak Park and River Forest High School today, including reports that at least one teen was on life support. Those reports are erroneous.
This afternoon, OPRF spokeswoman Kay Foran said besides the driver, three passengers were current or former OPRF students and that a fourth is an Oak Park middle school student.
“At this point, we’ve sent a message to staff and faculty, letting them know the basics of the situation, and asking them to have any student who needs to talk about this, to contact their counselor,” Foran said.
Bill Dwyer contributed to this report.