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Posted: Wednesday, 18 November 2009 7:52AM
Motorist who crashed into tree notches third arrest of month
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CHICAGO (STNG) -- An allegedly drunken motorist is in police custody at an Evanston hospital after reportedly stealing a station wagon and plowing into a tree so hard it uprooted and came to rest 12 feet away early Wednesday on the Northwest Side, police said.
The motorist was identified by Chicago Police as Steven Casey, 19, of the 7000 block of West Fargo Avenue in north suburban Niles.
Before early Wednesday’s arrest, Casey was arrested Nov. 1 in Niles and charged with criminal trespass to land after allegedly walking around naked in the 6700 block of Howard Avenue. He was also arrested for trespassing at 5224 S. Rutherford Ave. on Chicago’s Southwest Side at 10:35 p.m. Monday.
Casey was released from the Chicago Lawn District police station on an individual recognizance bond at 5:40 a.m. Tuesday.
In Wednesday’s incident, officers were notified at 3:15 a.m. that a Subaru Legacy station wagon jumped a curb and crashed head-on into a tree at 5515 N. Francisco Ave., Lincoln District police Sgt. Patrick Barker said.
Police learned that before the wreck Casey allegedly stole the vehicle near North Rockwell and West Ainslie streets -- about a mile south of where the wreck occurred.
“He uprooted one tree completely out of the ground and sent it 12 feet into the middle of the street,” Barker said.
The vehicle flipped and was left lying on its side between the tree and a wrought iron fence he dented near someone’s home, Barker said.
Casey was conscious and talking after the crash despite being extricated from the crumpled vehicle by firefighters using the “jaws of life,” according to the sergeant, who said the Subaru looked like a “piece of shop metal.”
Casey, who was allegedly drunk and speeding, was taken to Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston, where he is on a ventilator and has head injuries, according to Barker, who said the man would be placed in custody at the hospital.
The vehicle's owner was on the scene, but it was not immediately known how Casey took the vehicle, which had no passengers, Barker said.
The police Major Accident Investigation Unit is investigating.
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Sun-Times Media Wire Chicago Sun-Times 2009. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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