Car Crashes Into Cass Street Bridge, 3 Kids OK

JOLIET, IL —A 73-year-old woman who was driving a Cadillac the wrong way on Western Avenue crashed into the upright Cass Street bridge Thursday afternoon and members of the Joliet Fire Department had to extricate her from her heavily damaged vehicle.

Three small children who were passengers inside the car were not injured, the fire department said.

Joliet's Cass Street Bridge has been closed all week because of scheduled maintenance taking place this month throughout the city's downtown drawbridges.

This week, the Illinois Department of Transportation placed numerous barricades on both sides of the Cass Street Bridge to alert motorists to take a detour because the bridge is out.

Several ambulances from the Joliet Fire Department responded to Cass Street's Bridge at 3:35 p.m. Thursday after the woman crashed into the concrete counterweight of the bridge, the fire department told Patch.

By the time ambulances arrived, officers at the Joliet Police Department had safely removed the three children, ages 5, 8 and 11 from the car, authorities said.

Several police officers were already in the area because they were investigating several gunshots that had been fired near the intersection of Western Avenue and North Broadway Street about 10 minutes earlier.

The driver who crashed into the bridge suffered minor injuries, and was taken by ambulance to Silver Cross Hospital where she remains in good condition, the fire department said.

Joliet community activist Bob Hernandez told Patch he was already in the area producing a Facebook Live video of the gunfire incident along Western Avenue. He said the firefighters and police officers did an excellent job in the rescue efforts.

Hernandez said there was a second adult passenger in the car along with the three children.