Prospect Heights man dead after being hit by a car
An elderly man wandering down Euclid Avenue late Tuesday night was struck and killed by a car, officials said.
William Spears, 78, was pronounced dead at 11:27 p.m. at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, according to a Cook County Medical Examiner’s spokesman.
Mount Prospect police Officer Greg Sill said Spears was seen about 11 p.m. walking with the help of a walker southbound across lanes of traffic on Euclid, near Hancock Lane.
Occupants of a Ford Escape traveling westbound on Euclid saw Spears, turned around and stopped in the eastbound left turn lane to help him out of the roadway, Sill said. Spears, however, refused their assistance and continued southbound across Euclid, Sill said.
Moments later, an Audi SUV driving in the eastbound curb lane of Euclid struck Spears in the eastbound lane, then collided with the Ford Escape that was stopped in the turn lane, police said. The SUV’s driver, an Arlington Heights man, did not see Spears before the collision, police said.
Spears was transported from the scene to Advocate Lutheran General, officials said, where he died from injuries sustained in the crash.
Spears was a resident of the nearby Emeritus at Prospect Heights nursing home for the past seven years, the facility’s executive director confirmed in a statement Wednesday afternoon.
The statement indicates Spears left the residence at 700 E. Euclid about 11 p.m. to take a walk. It does not indicate whether Spears was free to leave the home whenever he wished, but it said the home “provides lifestyle and care options that enable seniors to live as independently and comfortably as possible, with the ability to make their own choices as to how they live their day.”
“At this time, we would like to extend our deepest sympathy to (Spears’) family and friends,” Executive Director Basya Schwarcz said in the statement. “Resident safety and care are our top priorities at Emeritus at Prospect Heights, and we are committed to doing everything we can to ensure the health and wellness of our residents.”
Prospect Heights Police Chief Jamie Dunne said his department was looking into the circumstances of how Spears left the home.
Mount Prospect police continue to investigate the traffic crash. At this time, no charges have been filed against the driver of the Audi.
Police are asking that anyone who may have witnessed the crash to contact the department at (847) 870-5656.
Euclid was shut to traffic for almost eight hours while the crash was being investigated, officials said.