Crash during Streamwood 'downpour' sends 2 to hospital

A crash during a "downpour" Monday night in Streamwood sent two people to the hospital and delayed traffic at Irving Park Road and Route 59, authorities said.

Lt. Steve Laker with the Streamwood Fire Department said two vans struck each other in "almost a head-on collision" about 7:30 p.m. in the middle of the intersection on Streamwood's west side.

Drivers of both vehicles involved - a Chevy Uplander minivan and a Dodge Sprinter conversion van - were taken to St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates with nonlife-threatening injuries, Laker said. The drivers were the only people involved in the crash.

The driver of the Uplander, 43-year-old William H. Sutton of Schaumburg, was determined to be at fault and was given a traffic ticket for failure to yield from a private drive, Streamwood police Deputy Chief Ed Valente said. The driver of the Sprinter, 29-year-old Edgar Cortez of Streamwood, was not cited, Valente said.

Both vans had "moderate to severe damage," but Laker said neither driver had to be freed from the wreckage using door removal or other extrication techniques.

The Bartlett Fire Protection District assisted in response to the crash, as did Streamwood Police. Traffic through the intersection of Irving Park and Route 59 was delayed as firefighters applied oil-drying material to clean up fluids that had spilled from the vans because of the crash.