Des Plaines police wait to speak with crash survivor
The lone survivor of the crash last week in Des Plaines that killed four people has been in an induced coma and unable to talk to investigators since the accident, Des Plaines Police Chief Bill Kushner said Thursday.
The 26-year-old Des Plaines man, a passenger in a speeding Mercedes-Benz that struck and killed Kevin and Anita Crawford and their 20-year-old daughter Kirsten, was scheduled to undergo surgery Thursday that investigators hope will clear the way to speak with him, the chief said.
Piotr Rog, the 21-year-old driver of the Mercedes-Benz, died at the scene of the crash Feb. 16 on Northwest Highway by Lattof YMCA in Des Plaines. Detectives are hoping the surviving passenger can help piece together the moments before the car crashed into the Crawfords' Chevrolet Impala at an estimated 100 mph.
He has been hospitalized at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Kushner said. The Mercedes-Benz struck the Crawfords' vehicle as they attempted to turn into the YMCA parking lot for a teenage family member's soccer game.
Meanwhile on Thursday, detectives were measuring the mangled vehicles involved in the crash to calculate speeds, Kushner said. The Mercedes-Benz was crushed to become at least three feet shorter than normal while the Impala was hardly recognizable, police said.
Detectives also were contacting Mercedes-Benz in an effort to locate and read the vehicle's “black box,” which could lend clues about the crash.
Kushner has described the crash as the worst he's seen during a 40-year law enforcement career.
Immediate surviving Crawford family members are a 10-year-old boy, Christian, and 15-year-old girl, Hailee. A GoFundMe page set up by parents from the children's schools had raised nearly $115,000 as of Thursday afternoon. The Des Plaines Police Department has also been accepting donations at the police station front desk, 1418 Miner St.
“It's heartwarming to see the community come together like this,” Kushner said. “It's just a shame it's a tragedy like this that brought this to light.”