Barrington Hills teen charged in fatal crash

A Barrington Hills teen has been charged with aggravated DUI in a multivehicle accident that claimed the life of a 61-year-old Elgin man earlier this year.

Cook County Judge Jill Cerone Marisie set bail at $100,000 Wednesday for 18-year-old Karsten Eilertsen, a 2013 Barrington High School graduate with no criminal background. He was charged with aggravated DUI involving death and great bodily harm in the March 3 crash that also injured two women.

Marisie ordered Eilertsen to surrender his passport and adhere to a 5 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew while the case is pending.

Eilertsen was driving a Chevrolet Suburban northbound on Route 59 in Barrington Hills at about 3 p.m. when he crossed over the centerlines and sideswiped a Toyota, injuring a 57-year-old female driver, said Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Maureen McGee during Eilertsen's bond hearing.

Eilertsen then crashed head-on into a Dodge driven by Ronald Ziolo of Elgin, McGee said. Ziolo was killed and his passenger, a 44-year-old woman, suffered injuries to her foot that required two surgeries. A third surgery is pending, McGee said.

Ziolo's car was then struck by another vehicle, a Ford Escape, whose occupants suffered minor injuries, police said.

Police recovered from Eilertsen's vehicle a prescription in his name for Adderall, a drug used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, McGee said. Inside the bottle was half a tablet of Lorazepam, a sedative that was also found in Eilertsen's system although he had no prescription for it, McGee said.

Additionally, police recovered from Eilertsen's vehicle a broken glass water pipe and cannabis.

If convicted, Eilertsen could face from three to 14 years in prison. He next appears in court on July 11.