Elgin teen killed, 3 hurt in one-car crash
From staff reports September 2, 2012 3:52PM
Updated: October 4, 2012 6:17AM
BURLINGTON TWP. — An Elgin man was killed in a one-car crash early Sunday that also injured three others, including two who fled the scene and reportedly walked to a hospital in Elgin, authorities said.
Kane County sheriff’s deputies said in a release that Lawrence Echols, 17, was a back-seat passenger in a car that was on Plank Road west of Burlington when it crashed about 12:50 a.m. The 2007 Lincoln MKZ was westbound at what appeared to be a high rate of speed when it crossed the center line and left the roadway on the south side of Plank Road west of Engel Road, according to an initial investigation. The vehicle rolled several times and struck a tree, deputies said.
Both back-seat passengers had to be extricated from the car, deputies said. One of them, Echols, was pronounced dead at the scene. The other back-seat passenger, Shadontre Smith, 19, of South Elgin was flown by helicopter to Condell Medical Center in Libertyville with injuries that did not appear to be life-threatening, deputies said.
According to authorities, the driver, Shannon Hill, 17, and front-seat passenger Jamiah Harrison, 17, both of Elgin, fled the crash on foot. Kane County sheriff’s deputies, Kane and DeKalb county sheriff K-9 units, bloodhound teams from the Midwest K-9 Emergency Response Team, the Air One Emergency Response Coalition Helicopter and the Kane County Office of Emergency Management search and rescue teams conducted a search for the remaining two occupants of the vehicle. At about 10:30 a.m., deputies were advised that both persons were located at Sherman Hospital in Elgin and said they walked to the hospital after the crash, authorities said. The hospital, on North Randall Road, is approximately 14-15 or more miles away from the crash site.
The Kane County Sheriff’s Department said no charges had been filed as of Sunday afternoon and that the crash remained under investigation by the sheriff’s office and Kane County Accident Reconstruction Team. Plank Road between Engel and County Line roads was closed until about 11 a.m.
