Car Goes Airborne In Western Springs Before Hitting Home: Cops

WESTERN SPRINGS, IL – A man was driving drunk before he struck a duplex on a street that divides Western Springs and La Grange, police said.

The 29-year-old La Grange Park man who lives in the 1400 block of Newberry Avenue was charged with DUI, improper overtaking on the left and failing to reduce speed to avoid an accident, police said.

Through a public records request, Patch received the police report.

About 7:30 p.m. April 1, Western Springs police were called to the crash at Gilbert and Cossitt avenues.

The man crashed his silver Honda into the picture window of the duplex and entered the home.

Police said a woman and a child who live in the unit were away at the time. The residents in the other unit said they heard a loud boom.

A bicyclist told police that the driver was heading west on Cossitt when he braked briefly af the stop sign with Gilbert.

The witness then saw the car hit the curb, go airborne about 3 feet and crash into the home, police said.

The driver in front of the man told police that the suspect was speeding behind her and overtook her car to the left at the stop sign, police said.

The man was taken to the hospital.

Authorities determined it was safe to remove the car from the house, which was temporarily boarded up.

The next day, a police officer called the man's phone, but the suspect's mother answered. The officer asked that the man contact the police.

The man's lawyer called a few hours later, saying his client would surrender at the police station. He did.