Police: Riverside rollover crash caused by drunk driver going 90 mph

RIVERSIDE (SUN TIMES MEDIA WIRE) - Charges were pending Friday against an alleged drunk driver who caused a rollover crash late Wednesday in west suburban Riverside, injuring himself and a 66-year-old woman.

A black 2016 Kia was speeding south on First Avenue at 90 mph shortly before 10:30 p.m. when it blew through the red lights at 31st and Ridgewood before crashing into an SUV that was backing out of a driveway in the 3500 block of South First, according to Riverside police.

The crash sent the SUV into a tailspin and caused it to flip onto its side.

The 66-year-old Riverside woman driving the SUV had to be extricated from her vehicle, and was taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, police said. She was treated for head and leg injuries, and released.

The driver of the Kia, a 24-year-old La Grange man, was ejected from the car, police said. When emergency crews arrived, he was “screaming profanities at the officers and extremely belligerent with the paramedics as well,” a statement from police said.

An officer had to accompany the man in an ambulance because he continued to be combative, police said. He “displayed obvious signs of intoxication” and officers could smell alcohol on his breath, but he refused to submit to a breath, blood or urine test.

He was also taken to Loyola with serious shoulder injuries, knee injuries, facial injuries and fractures, police said. He remained hospitalized Friday afternoon.

Charges have not been filed but they were pending Friday, according to police. At the time of the crash, the man was on parole for a 2014 felony conviction for possession of a controlled substance.

“To think that one of our residents was simply pulling out of her driveway and violently rammed by a vehicle driven by an intoxicated motorist traveling 90 mph is unfathomable,” Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel said in the statement. “It is a miracle that she was not killed.”