5 hurt in Albany Park crash when vehicle takes off from traffic stop

CHICAGO (SUN TIMES MEDIA WIRE) - A vehicle driving away from a traffic stop Friday morning caused a chain-reaction crash that left five people injured in the Albany Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side.

Officers responding to reports of a man with a gun spotted a vehicle matching the description from a dispatch broadcast at 10:54 a.m. in the 3400 block of West Sunnyside, according to Chicago Police.

When the officers tried to pull the vehicle over, it took off north on Kimball, police said. It continued through the intersection with Lawrence Avenue, where it hit a semitrailer and caused the truck to hit three other vehicles.

Three men from the vehicle that fled the traffic stop were taken to hospitals — two of them to Community First Medical Center and the third to Swedish Covenant Hospital, police said. All three were in police custody and two weapons were recovered after the crash.

Another man involved in the crash was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, while a fifth man was taken to an unspecified hospital, according to police. The men in the semi refused medical treatment.

The ages and conditions of the people involved in the crash were not immediately available.