Des Plaines man accused of DUI after train hits car

A driver police said was drunk and his passenger were able to escape from their car with minor injuries just before a train slammed into it in Wheeling early Tuesday.

Wheeling police said a 2003 Honda Civic driven by Jun Woo Lim, 28, of the 10000 block of Linda Lane in Des Plaines, was hit at about 2:35 a.m. by a freight train.

Authorities said Lim had turned the car onto the Canadian National tracks from Frontage Road near Palatine and Wolf roads.

Wheeling Deputy Police Chief Bill Benson said the car had struck a concrete barrier wall on the bridge over Palatine Road and then continued on the train tracks to the other side of the barrier.

The Honda's passenger, 27-year-old Woo Y. Shin of the 3000 block of East Court Drive in Decatur, was able to pull Lim out of the car just before the train hit it, Benson said.

"They were very fortunate to survive this crash," he said.

Lim, who was transported to Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge with nonlife-threatening injuries, was charged with DUI, Benson said.

Shin was treated for minor injuries at Glenbrook Hospital in Glenview.

Shin, the owner of the Honda, was also charged with permitting an intoxicated person to drive, Benson said.

The rail crossing was shut down for about three hours while the wreck was removed.

Both men are scheduled to appear in court May 1.