Northfield man charged after crash at Arlington Heights rail crossing
A Northfield man has been charged after injuring himself and another driver and damaging a rail crossing signal while driving drunk Sunday morning in Arlington Heights, police said Tuesday.
Johnny Benitez, 31, of the 900 block of Ninth Street, was charged with felony DUI along with four misdemeanors and four traffic offenses, the police department said in a news release.
The crash occurred about 7:30 a.m. at the intersection of Arlington Heights Road and Northwest Highway.
Video captured by a security camera at a nearby business shows Benitez's 2020 Nissan Juke sideswiping a 2010 Toyota Camry before losing control and crashing into a rail crossing signal, knocking it to the ground and sending debris across the road, police said.
Authorities said Benitez had been speeding in excess of 100 miles per hour before hitting the Toyota Camry.
Benitez had to be cut from his vehicle and was taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. Authorities said the driver of the Camry was taken Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights with nonlife-threatening injuries.
All three train tracks at the intersection were closed for several hours following the crash. Authorities said that damage to the crosswalk is still being repaired.
Benitez's bond was set at $15,000, and his next court date is Nov. 23.