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Driver dies in his second Huntley crash in a few hours, police say

A 56-year-old Gilberts-area man was killed in an early-Friday crash on Route 47 in Huntley — the second of two single-car crashes he was involved in that occurred in a short span, authorities said.

A 2002 Honda CR-V, driven by David Flight, was heading west on Freeman Road at 4:49 a.m. when it struck a light pole. The car rolled over and came to rest in the southbound lanes of Route 47 north of I-90, Huntley police said. Flight was pronounced dead at the scene.

Just 12 minutes earlier, police responded to the area of Freeman Road and Factory Shops Boulevard where a 2003 Saturn traveling west on Freeman Road had struck a traffic signal, careened off the roadway and skidded across a frozen pond. The two crashes were less than a mile apart.

Officers found the vehicle unoccupied with heavy front-end damage. A Kane County search dog was brought in to help search for the driver, who presumably fled.

Police determined the Saturn and the Honda CR-V were registered to the same address, about two miles from the first crash site. The cars' owners told police both vehicles were parked at the home when they turned in for the evening, but the keys were missing. Though Flight lived at the home, he did not own either vehicle, police said.

“They believe that he may have left around 2 a.m. to take one of the vehicles,” Huntley Police Deputy Chief Mike Klunk said. “They have no idea when the second one left.”

Flight, a family member, had the keys for both cars in his possession, police said, noting the difficulty of pinpointing the time of the two crashes.

“It could very well have been several hours between the two crashes,” Klunk said. “He must have driven right past our officers” before crashing on Route 47, he said.

Both crashes were high-speed collisions, and investigators are considering they may have been intentional.

The second crash resulted in the closing of Route 47 and Jim Dhamer Drive for several hours.

The Kane County coroner's office has not ruled on the official cause of death, as toxicology results are pending, and the county accident reconstruction team is investigating.

A 2003 Saturn heading west on Freeman Road struck a traffic signal early Friday, left the roadway and skidded across a frozen pond, police said. They found the vehicle unoccupied with severe front-end damage. Courtesy of Huntley Police Department
This 2003 Saturn was traveling west along Freeman Road when it struck a traffic signal, and left the roadway. Police presume its driver was involved in another, fatal, crash near Route 47 in Huntley. Courtesy of Huntley Police Department
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