Crash near Wauconda on Fairfield Road injures one

One man was taken to Advocate Condell Medical Center Tuesday afternoon after his sport utility vehicle was involved in a head-on crash near Wauconda on Fairfield Road south of Bonner Road, according to Wauconda Fire District officials.

Preliminary investigation shows the man was driving a 2002 Nissan Pathfinder southbound on Fairfield Road around 3:45 p.m. when he crossed over the center yellow double-lines and collided with a 1998 Chevrolet tow truck that was towing a van on its flatbed, Lake County Sheriff's Det. Chris Covelli said.

The man, who was born in 1983, was the sole occupant of the SUV, and had to be extracted from the vehicle, Wauconda Fire Department Batallion Chief Patrick Kane said. The man was unresponsive, but alive, after crews pulled him from the SUV. He was taken to Advocate Condell Medical Center with injuries that are life-threatening.

The two men who occupied the tow truck were not injured, Kane said.

Both directions of Fairfield Road between Bonner Road and Route 176 remained closed into the evening while the Lake County sheriff's technical crash unit investigates.