Pedestrian struck by car, killed in Des Plaines

An elderly man died after he was hit by a car apparently while he tried to cross a busy thoroughfare in Des Plaines, authorities said Wednesday.

The crash took place about 5:09 p.m. in a dimly lit stretch of Rand Road just east of Wolf Road.

The man was in his 60s or 70s and was taken to Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, where he died, said Des Plaines police Sgt. Dan Niemann.

His identity was withheld late Wednesday pending notification of family.

The driver of a car headed northwest on Rand Road told police he did not se the man until it was too late to avoid the crash.

"He said the pedestrian just appeared in front of him and he struck him," Niemann said.

Traffic on Rand Road was snarled for a few hours while police investigated the crash, which was marked by a crushed fedora that belonged to the victim.

The car belonged to MedSpeed, an Elmhurst-based company that apparently was delivering medical specimens at the time of the crash.

The cause of the crash is under investigation and it is unclear if any charges will be filed, Niemann said.