Woman critically injured in 5-car crash near Antioch

A 24-year-old woman was critically injured Thursday evening in a five-vehicle crash in unincorporated Antioch.

Lake County sheriff’s deputies responding to a crash with injuries about 6:05 p.m. on Route 173 east of Route 45 found five vehicles involved, according to Lake County Sheriff's Office Deputy Chief Chris Covelli.

Preliminary information showed a Ford F-550 hauling an excavator was headed west on Route 173 approaching Route 45 and for an unknown reason the driver, a 52-year-old man from Waukegan, didn’t slow for traffic stopped at a red light, Covelli said.

The front of the truck struck the back of a Nissan Versa, driven by a 23-year-old man from Savoy and in turn struck a stopped Volkswagen Atlas driven by a 47-year-old man of Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, Covelli said.

The Volkswagen was pushed into a Chevrolet Silverado driven by a 39-year-old Woodstock man. The force and momentum of the Ford caused the Nissan to sideswipe a stopped Kia K-5 driven by a 60-year-old Antioch man, according to Covelli.

The Nissan driver and a front-seat passenger, a 25-year-old Champaign man, were taken to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville with non-life-threatening injuries, Covelli said. A 24-year-old woman of Champaign who was a rear-seat passenger in the Nissan was taken to Advocate Condell by helicopter with critical, life-threatening injuries, Covelli said.

The driver of the Volkswagen was taken to Froedtert Pleasant Prairie Hospital and the Ford driver taken to Advocate Condell with non-life-threatening injuries. The Silverado and Kia drivers were not injured, according to Covelli.

Several ambulances were at the scene and crews from the Antioch and Lake Villa fire departments and Newport Fire Protection District assisted.

The crash is being investigated by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Technical Crash Investigations Unit.