Wisconsin man identified as driver who died after crashing stolen Lexus while fleeing police in Lake County
LAKE COUNTY, Ill. - A Wisconsin man driving a stolen vehicle was killed after fleeing from police and crashing into another vehicle near the Illinois-Wisconsin border Saturday afternoon.
At about 4:30 p.m., Lake County Sheriff's deputies responded to Route 73 and Kilbourne Road in unincorporated Zion for a traffic crash with injuries.
Upon arrival, deputies located two vehicles with major damage.
According to preliminary information, a 32-year-old man from Salem, Wisconsin, was driving a stolen Lexus GS400 in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, when police from the Pleasant Prairie Police Department located the vehicle and attempted to stop the driver.
Instead, the man fled at a high rate of speed.
An officer pursued the driver and successfully utilized a tire deflating device in the area of Kilbourne Road and Russell Road near Russell.
One of the Lexus' tires was deflated. However, the driver continued to flee at a high rate of speed.
Officers then stopped the chase in unincorporated Zion due to safety concerns, but the man in the stolen Lexus continued driving recklessly and excessively fast.
The man disregarded a red light at Kilbourne Road and Route 173 and entered the intersection.
At that time, he collided with a GMC Yukon.
The driver of the Lexus, and sole occupant of the vehicle, was killed. The Lake County Coroner’s Office identified the deceased as Tyler Johnson.
A 51-year-old front seat passenger in the GMC sustained critical injuries and was transported to an area hospital.
The driver of the GMC, a 30-year-old Waukegan man, along with the following rear passengers, sustained non-life-threatening injuries:
- 20-year-old woman from Waukegan
- 28-year-old man from Waukegan
- 15-year-old boy from Waukegan
- 15-year-old girl from Montogomery
- 11-year-old girl from Waukegan
- Eight-year-old girl from Waukegan
Several were transported to area hospitals.
The Lake County Coroner's Office performed an autopsy on Johnson on Monday and determined he died from blunt force injuries suffered as a result of the crash.
While investigating the crash further, it was determined that Johnson had a revoked driver's license, an active arrest warrant out of Lake County for possessing methamphetamine and was the suspect in several area burglaries.