One dead, three injured in high-speed Arlington Heights crash

A Wheeling man was killed and three other suburban residents seriously injured in an overnight high-speed accident in Arlington Heights, police said Thursday.

Jose Antonio Guzman-Ojeda, 26, a rear seat passenger in a 1999 Pontiac Grand Am died soon after the driver lost control of his vehicle while speeding eastbound on Palatine Road east of Rand Road, police said. The vehicle hit a tree around 11:23 p.m. Wednesday.

Guzman-Ojeda was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. A Cook County Medical Examiner's Office spokesman said he succumbed to multiple injuries from the accident.

The driver, Gerardo Torres-Salas, 28, of Prospect Heights, was taken to Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, police said. Two other occupants - a Prospect Heights resident whose age is unknown and a 26-year-old from Wheeling - were transported to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge and Northwest Community Hospital, respectively.

All three surviving crash victims suffered serious injuries but were stable, Arlington Heights Police Cmdr. Andrew Whowell said.

"The cause of the crash is still under investigation," Whowell said. "We do not suspect that there is any alcohol or drug use at this time that contributed to the accident. It appears that excessive speed is (the cause). We're waiting for some toxicology but we don't suspect there'll be any charges with that."

Whowell said likely there will be some citations issued, but he would not speculate about potential charges. "We have to wait until the investigation is over," he said.