Des Plaines Crash Injures Woman, Man Found After 5-Hour Search

DES PLAINES, IL — A car crash in Des Plaines early Monday morning sent two people to the hospital after police and fire crews searched a nearby wooded area for several hours for other people believed to have been in the car. Police said the crash was reported around 2:20 a.m. near the intersection of Rand and Ballard roads, and a man believed to have left the scene was found more than five hours later. Thought to have been travelling at a high rate of speed, the car left the road, crashed into a light pole and downed an electrical wire.

Rand Road between Dempster and Miner streets remained closed around 9 a.m. as an accident reconstruction team investigated and power crews repaired the damaged wires. Dozens of nearby homes were without power for a time Monday morning as a result of the crash, according to ComEd.

Arriving first responders found a badly damaged car sitting the woods with the airbags deployed and a woman stuck inside. She was extricated from the vehicle and taken to Lutheran General Hospital, where she remained in serious condition and is expected to survive, according to police.

She told rescuers there had been two other people in the car, but police later said it appeared the third person had been dropped off before the crash.

Investigators searched the area near the Des Plaines river, trying to figure out of the passengers had been ejected or if they were able to walk away from the accident.

Hours later, police found a barefoot man in a parking lot near the scene with no coat and several cuts to his body. Police believe he left the scene of the crash, according to Officer Mike Heidkamp.

Heidkamp told reporters the man was taken to the hospital, and he may face charges ranging from speeding, to driving off the road, to leaving the scene of an injury accident or anything else the investigation reveals. He said it was too early to determine if impairment played a role the in the crash but was confident speed was a factor.

"In order to accomplish what it accomplished, the vehicle most likely was over the speed limit," Heidkamp said. He said it appeared the man, whose "condition was consistent with someone who had been in a car crash" had found shelter somewhere after the crash.

Heidkamp said neither person had confirmed that they were driving. However, the hospitalized woman was pulled from the car's passenger seat.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

UPDATE: Drunk Man Left Injured Girlfriend After Des Plaines Crash: Police

Des Plaines: Rand & Ballard Closed. One serious injury in accident with light pole damage and wires down #NBCSky5 @KyeMartinNBC @nbcchicago pic.twitter.com/Zy1lWeOQT6
— Mike Lorber (@NBCSky5) April 2, 2018

Car in ditch along side Rand rd. in #DesPlaines where it ended up after taking out pole and electrical box. One woman had to be extricated. Her boyfriend left the scene and was found five hours later bloodied & with no shoes and coat. @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/qZEFGJEktx
— Mike Puccinelli (@MPuccinelliCBS2) April 2, 2018

Two injured in Lexus that hit a utility pole & ran off Ballard Rd into woods near Des Plaines River. Rand Road still closed for electrical repairs. @fox32news pic.twitter.com/dSnVtedTjg
— Joanie Lum FOX 32 (@JoanieLum) April 2, 2018