SUV crashes into Fox Lake auto body shop, injuring two

Fox Lake police continue to investigate the early Saturday morning crash of an SUV into an auto body shop that injured the totaled vehicle’s two occupants and left the building’s structural integrity to be assessed by the village this week.

Doug Lewis, who bought Dan’s Auto Body at 702 Rollins Road in 2021, said he made the 911 call at 7:21 a.m. after he and an employee heard the loud impact about eight feet away from where they’d been standing inside the shop.

“It looked like a war zone out front,” Lewis said. “The car was on fire. I put the fire out.”

While he was checking out the building, he said his employee and an eyewitness helped to get one of the two occupants out of the heavily damaged Chevy Traverse. Lewis didn’t see how the other occupant was extricated.

The Fox Lake Fire Protection District responded along with police, but reports were unavailable Sunday. Police said a detailed press release is expected Monday.

Lewis saw social media posts from people claiming to be witnesses who reported seeing the vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed and erratically. One person, he said, described walking his dog and seeing the SUV go by so fast he was instinctively waiting for the “boom” of a crash.

Because power has been shut off in his building, Lewis said he hasn’t been able to see whether his security camera captured the crash.

Though the hole in the shop has been boarded up, the village’s building inspector won’t be available to assess the business’ ability to reopen until he returns to town on Tuesday, Lewis said.