Police probe teen's skateboarding death
McHenry County Sheriff's police confirmed Friday that a skateboarding accident that killed a McHenry-area teen this week occurred as the boy rode while holding onto the back of a moving vehicle.
Alexander Baer, 17, of the 1600 block of Woodlawn Park Avenue, died Thursday afternoon from a head injury sustained in the accident near his home Tuesday, authorities said. Police say Baer was on a skateboard being pulled by some type of rope attached to a vehicle when he fell, according to a news release.
Sheriff's investigators are in the beginning stages of their probe, and say they do not suspect foul play.
"All indications are it's a horrible accident, but we're going to investigate to make sure that there was no criminal act and see if we can do anything to prevent this from happening again," Undersheriff Andrew Zinke said.
The McHenry Township Fire Protection District was dispatched about 4 p.m. Tuesday to the 1700 block of Woodlawn Park Avenue in McHenry for a skateboarding incident in which a person fell. A Flight For Life helicopter was called and flew the teen to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge.
"The injury was significant enough that we needed to transport him to a level-one trauma center," said Fire Chief Tony Hurmann.
Baer was pronounced dead at the hospital at 2:46 p.m. Thursday. As of Friday, an autopsy had not yet been done on Baer's body, according to a spokeswoman from the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.
Meanwhile, friends have organized two groups on Facebook to honor the teenager, who was an honor student at McHenry High School East Campus. One was set up to pray for Baer while he was hospitalized and the other celebrates the teen's life. A video on the "Pray for Alex" group shows Baer smiling, hanging out with friends and water skiing.
Combined, the groups had 1,100 members as of Friday afternoon.
Daily Herald Staff Writer Heather Linder contributed to this article.
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<li><a href="/story/?id=397393">McHenry teen dies after skateboarding accident <span class="date">[07/29/10]</span></a></li>
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