GENOA – The nine people hospitalized by a three-car crash Sunday afternoon at the intersection of Route 23 and Melms Road are either in good condition or have been treated and released, according to hospital staff.
The crash occurred at 1:48 p.m. when an eastbound Chevy Malibu driven by Donna L. Johnson, 63, of Genoa, failed to stop at a stop sign on Melms at the intersection with Route 23, according to a news release from the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office. That put Johnson’s car in the path of a 2003 Chevy Suburban southbound on Route 23 and driven by Dawn M. Rauhut, 43. Rauhut swerved to the right to avoid Johnson's vehicle, then overcorrected and wound up in the path of oncoming northbound traffic on Route 23.
Rauhut's vehicle, which carried four passengers – three of them children – then collided head-on with a 2009 Dodge Caravan driven by Juan Lizcano, 33.
Rauhut, her adult passenger, Courtney E. Rauhut, 19, and two of the children are from McHenry, and the other child is from Woodstock, DeKalb County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Andy Sullivan said. There were six passengers in the van, two of them children, and they are all from Waukegan, Sullivan said.
Lizcano and one of his four passengers, Maria Luisa Rosas, 50, were flown to OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center in Rockford, where they were in good condition midday Monday, according to a nursing supervisor. Among the other passengers in the van, Benito Rosas, 54, was treated and released from Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital, Vincenta Rosas, 32, was treated and released from Kishwaukee Hospital, and according to Tammy Farrell, with the hospital’s media relations department, no information was available on Gomercinda Grajales, 53, who was taken to the hospital according to the release from the sheriff’s office.
Grajales and Maria Luisa Rosas were not wearing their seat belts, according to the release.
Rauhut was treated and released from Kishwaukee Hospital, as well, Farrell said. Sullivan said the minor in her vehicle, as well as the two minors in the van who went to Kishwaukee Hospital, have all been treated and released.
Firefighter/paramedics from Genoa-Kingston, Cortland, Sycamore and Marengo fire agencies responded to the crash scene.
Johnson was cited for failure to yield, and Lizcano was cited for driving without a license, police said. Sullivan he doesn't anticipate any more citations, or any charges.
“The investigation is still going on, and if they come across something, it could be added, but it doesn’t appear likely,” Sullivan said.