Update: SUV crashes into Subway restaurant; 1 killed

An Acura SUV sits inside the Subway restaurant at 400 S. Eighth St. in West Dundee after the female driver jumped a curb and crashed through a brick wall. One person was killed, and eight people were injured. (Shaun Sartin photo)

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WEST DUNDEE – A 56-year-old Crystal Lake man died and eight others were injured Saturday afternoon when a sport utility vehicle jumped a curb and crashed into a Subway restaurant, emergency officials said.

    John Venezia, of 1008 Barlina Road and a patron of the restaurant, died in the crash, Kane County Coroner Charles West told CBS2 Chicago.

    West did not immediately return calls for comment Saturday night, and family members could not be reached.

    A silver-gray Acura MDX sport utility vehicle apparently crashed through the south wall of the restaurant and came to a rest fully inside the dining room.

    The female driver, a male passenger, and seven restaurant patrons and employees were taken to area hospitals after the accident.

    The names of those involved were being withheld pending notification of family members.

    Five of the injured were taken by ambulance to St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates, two went to Sherman Hospital in Elgin, and two more were taken to Provena St. Joseph Hospital in Elgin, West Dundee Fire Chief Frank Buhrmann said.

    A hospital official at St. Alexius said Saturday evening that two of the patients were treated and released, and three others were in stable condition. A nursing supervisor at St. Joseph Hospital said she could not release information without the patients’ names.

    West Dundee Police Chief David Sawyer said the vehicle apparently jumped the curb about 1:40 p.m. from a McDonald’s parking lot next door to the Subway, 400 S. Eighth St.

    “We’re going to look at the car; we’re going to look at the building; we’re going to look at everything,” Sawyer said.

    Shattered glass and crumbled brick lay on the ground while members of the Kane County Accident Reconstruction Team arrived. By 7 p.m., the Acura was removed, and efforts were under way to secure the building.

    Don Kingston said the vehicle belonged to his parents-in-law, who he said were retired physicians in their 60s from Algonquin. His mother-in-law said she was driving in the McDonald’s parking lot when something went wrong, Kingston said.

    “She was coming in through this lot, and she lost control,” Kingston said. “She said she had no brakes and had no steering.”

    A group of Subway employees stood outside the building more than an hour after the accident. A man who said he was the store’s general manager declined to comment.

    Mark Nelson, who lives along Route 31 across the street from the Subway, said he was returning home shortly after the accident.

    Nelson said he saw a woman on the sidewalk who was clutching a child. He said the woman was screaming, and “It was like a bomb went off!”

    A Flight for Life helicopter was called to the scene and landed in the parking lot of nearby MidAmerica Bank, but it was not needed, Buhrmann said.

    Dozens of onlookers watched from the McDonald’s parking lot as police investigated the scene.         Some snapped pictures while others held their hands to their mouths, taking in the damage.

    Kathy Dozier of Algonquin said she was trying to visit her sister in a nearby apartment complex when police blocked the road because of the accident.

    “It’s tragic,” Dozier said. “It’s just so random and so strange.”

• Northwest Herald reporter Joe Grace and CBS2 Chicago contributed to this story.