Head-on, high-speed crash shakes up downtown Chesterton

Chicago Tribune

6 days ago

The normal tranquility of a summer Monday morning in downtown Chesterton was shattered when a man driving at a high rate of speed crossed the center lane and crashed head-on into another vehicle.
The driver then fled, and pedestrians saw that he left a toddler in a car seat inside the vehicle, according to an eyewitness. The child was not seriously hurt but was taken to a local hospital to be checked, police said.
Chesterton police arrested the man near the crash scene, just south of Calumet Road and Broadway at 11 a.m. Monday.
The 51-year-old Porter man was taken to a local hospital and several charges are pending, Police Chief Tim Richardson said.
A witness told police that she was at Grant Avenue when she saw a white Cadillac DeVille traveling at a high rate of speed go airborne after going over the tracks. The Cadillac then passed a vehicle and went southbound into the northbound lane, crashing head-on into a Ford Bronco driven by a 70-year-old Chicago woman, police said.
Nicki Caylor watched the chaotic scene unfold from inside the Running Vines restaurant she runs at the corner of Calumet Road and Broadway.
Caylor gave the following account in a social media posting:
She saw the man drive the vehicle – at 60 to 70 mph – swerve around a Subaru and then go southbound in the northbound lane of Calumet Road, which is two lanes with cars parked on both sides.
The man in the car 'pinballed' off a few parked cars and then struck a northbound vehicle head-on.
'I was already walking outside to see what was going on and if anyone needed help. That's when I saw the male driver climb out of the passenger side and run away,' Caylor said.
That's when Caylor and others saw that there was a crying baby – who looked to be a toddler – improperly secured in a car seat facing the wrong way.
'The car was filled with smoke, but it was starting to clear,' Caylor said.
There was spilled fuel on the ground, so Caylor said they knew they had to get the baby out.
Not only was the car seat facing the wrong way, but it had been zip-tied. Caylor said they managed to cut the seat belt and anchors and freed the child.
Chesterton police officers arrived, and the man started physically attacking them. Officers de-escalated the situation and got him safely to the ground, Caylor said.
'I'm blown away by the calm, collected presence of the officers – and honestly everyone,' Caylor said.