Metra train strikes police vehicle in Prospect Heights
A Prospect Heights police officer was taken to the hospital Wednesday afternoon after a Metra train struck a police SUV, officials say.
The crash occurred 3:46 p.m. on the Metra North Central Service line near the Prospect Heights station. Police believe the officer was in the vehicle at the time. There was no immediate update on the officer's condition.
"We didn't see it, but we heard it," said Jenny Fonseca, a waitress at the nearby El Paisa Alegre #2 Mexican restaurant.
Fonseca and co-workers said they could hear the loud train horn as it approached, then the sound of the crash.
The police SUV ended up in the backyard of a house at the intersection of the tracks and Camp McDonald Road.
A number of police squad cars were positioned at the intersections of Camp McDonald and Wolf roads and Wolf and Euclid Avenue, blocking traffic from the train station.
The Metra train involved in the crash, Train No. 116, was originally due to arrive at Chicago's Union Station at 4:35 p.m. but was stopped for two hours during the accident investigation. Trains were moving again by 5:40 p.m.
Police didn't immediately offer details and said an outside agency is conducting the investigation.