Will County Prosecutors: Teen Accused of Reckless Driving in Four-Vehicle Crash

A 16-year-old from Plainfield Township faces felony charges in adult court following a July 20 crash in Joliet that injured four people and damaged four vehicles. Will County prosecutors filed the case at the Joliet courthouse on Thursday.

The warrant alleges the teen drove a Kia Rio and committed aggravated reckless driving and aggravated fleeing and eluding police. According to police reports, the Tri-County Auto Theft Task Force spotted the reportedly stolen vehicle and tracked it to the Joliet West High School parking lot.

Officers initiated a traffic stop, but the driver accelerated rapidly away from the patrol cars. Police stated the vehicle proceeded north on Larkin Avenue from Glenwood Avenue in a reckless manner. The Kia is believed to have ignored a stoplight at the intersection of Black Road and North Larkin Avenue.

The Kia struck a Jeep Wrangler driven by a 67-year-old Joliet resident who was executing a left turn on a green arrow. The impact sent the Jeep rolling onto its roof. The Kia then continued into the westbound lanes of Black Road, hitting a Subaru Forester driven by an 80-year-old Glenview man who was stopped in the left-turn lane.

The vehicle struck a third car, a GMC Sierra driven by a 74-year-old Joliet man waiting at the intersection. The crash resulted in serious injuries to four individuals and significant damage to all four vehicles involved in the chain of collisions.