Cops: St. Charles student hurt in scavenger hunt gone awry

A St. Charles North High School junior was in serious condition late Monday after jumping from a moving vehicle in a weekend scavenger hunt involving dozens of classmates, officials said.

Erik G. Nava, 17, of South Elgin suffered severe head trauma Friday night when he leapt from an automobile at Old Homestead and Mallard Lake roads in unincorporated St. Charles Township. Police said the teen was participating in a scavenger hunt that offered points for "jumping from a moving motor vehicle at 25 mph."

Kane County State's Attorney John Barsanti said a special grand jury would be convened to investigate whether anything about the game was illegal. Two prosecutors also have been assigned to a joint investigative task force with the sheriff's department.

"In the end, I don't know if this is even a crime at all until we get a lot more detail," he said.

Police responded at 10:16 p.m. to find the injured teenager unconscious in a pool of blood at the intersection. Nava was taken to Delnor-Community Hospital in Geneva, where he was listed in serious condition late Monday, a spokeswoman said.

According to a police report, the driver of the vehicle carrying Nava said they were among a group participating in a scavenger hunt and that one way to earn points was to have someone jump from a moving vehicle. A list purported to outline the game objectives noted the vehicle should be moving at 25 mph, but the driver told police that was "way too fast" and she had planned to go 10 or 15 mph when Nava suddenly jumped without warning.

St. Charles Unit District 303 Superintendent Don Schlomann said Monday administrators learned the event was in the works after school let out Friday. He said his office believes students in roughly 10 vehicles participated.

"It was not a school-sanctioned event," Schlomann said. "What we know so far after the fact is that some students are saying they have participated in this in the past. Hopefully, with the state's attorney's office, we can learn more."

One North senior who requested anonymity because he did not attend the scavenger hunt and does not want his name associated with it said the event is a tradition dating back several years.

"It's always been a senior thing - but it's not official," he said.

"They're supposed to do it with things that are fun and challenging."

The student said participants each chip in $5 as an entry fee and whoever completes the most challenges over the course of an evening wins the pot.

Other items on this year's list, he said, were "playing a recorder on the street" and "acting like you're in a zoo" at a local retail store.

Another challenge - "swim across the Fox River" - was deemed too dangerous and scrapped at the last minute, he said.

On Monday, Barsanti compared the mishap to an infamous Plato Township brawl in 2005 that killed 20-year-old Nicholas Swanson of Elgin and led to the convictions of 17 people.

He said convening a special grand jury gives his office the power to subpoena witnesses who could face perjury charges if they're not truthful. He added that some students involved in Friday's incident have already hired attorneys.

"There's a lot of information out there that I'd like to have," including a copy of the game objectives, Barsanti said.

The Kane County sheriff's department asked that anyone with information on the case call detective Jerry Krawczyk at (630) 208-5353.