Lindenhurst man, 18, drowns after SUV rolls into lake

An 18-year-old Lindenhurst man drowned and another man was hospitalized after being pulled from an SUV that went into a Lake County lake early Friday morning, according to authorities.

The driver, Nicholas Bonilla, 18, was trapped inside the vehicle and drowned, according to authorities.

Lake County sheriff’s deputies responded to a call at 1:52 a.m. reporting that a vehicle had driven into Lake Miltmore, near the intersection of Nathan Hale and Engle drives in unincorporated Lake Villa Township, said Lake County sheriff’s office Lt. Jeffery Burke.

The vehicle was traveling east on Engle Drive when it crossed over Nathan Hale Drive, drove approximately 200 feet through a yard, struck a boat lift and stopped upside-down about 50 feet into the lake, according to a news release.

Burke said four sheriff’s deputies and members of the Lake Villa Fire Department dive team went into the 45-degree water to rescue the driver and front seat passenger from the inverted Pontiac Aztek.

Both men were taken to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, where the driver was pronounced dead about 5 a.m.

An autopsy Friday showed “no significant signs of any type of trauma related to a motor vehicle accident,” said Lake County Coroner Artis Yancey. “The autopsy indicates it was a drowning.”

Yancey said it would take a week or two for the results of toxicology tests to determine if drugs or alcohol were involved.

The passenger who survived the crash was identified as Angel B. Flores, 18, of Lindenhurst.

Burke said Flores was experiencing hypothermia and Bonilla, who was trapped in the vehicle, was underwater for about 20 minutes.

The four deputies were treated at the scene and released, police said.

Authorities said they would continue to investigate whether there were any contributing factors to the crash.