East Dundee man killed in 4-car Rosemont crash

An East Dundee man has been identified as the person killed Thursday evening in a four-vehicle crash on Higgins Road in Rosemont.

Rusty Carpenter, 37, was pronounced dead at the scene after being ejected about 50 feet from his 2012 Ford Focus, which had broken through the outer fence line of O’Hare International Airport.

One of the other drivers was taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge with injuries that are not considered life-threatening.

The crash occurred at about 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Des Plaines firefighters, who responded to the scene, said two vehicles may have been racing on westbound Higgins Road, west of Mannheim and before Touhy, when one of the vehicles lost control, hit the median and went flying into the eastbound lanes.

That vehicle then crashed into two more vehicles before landing on O’Hare property.

The crash remains under investigation by accident reconstructionists, Rosemont police said.

None of the vehicles involved had passengers and no drivers had been cited as of Friday morning.

Higgins Road was closed to traffic between Touhy Avenue and Mannheim Road for several hours after the crash as investigators examined and documented the scene.