Crime & Safety

Elgin Boy Recovering After Car Plunges Into Kane Co. Sinkhole

Storms washed out a portion of roadway on Thomas Road near McDonald Road in Burlington leaving behind a 10-foot wide sinkhole, according to media reports.

A 15-year-old Elgin boy is now at home recovering after he was seriously injured when the car his mom was driving plunged into a sinkhole and was driven over by pick-up truck on July 1, according to the Daily Herald. 

Benjamin Hernandez suffered a broken rib and jaw and lost some teeth. He was released from Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood on Saturday, according to the Daily Herald. 

The boy has health insurance through public assistance but does not have dental insurance, the newspaper reports.

Anyone wishing to make a donation can write a check out to the Benjamin Hernandez Fund and mailing it to Benjamin Hernandez Medical Fund, c/o Chase Bank, 1600 Larkin Ave., Elgin, IL 60123, according to the Daily Herald.

Read more on the Daily Herald

The above information was updated at 3:30 p.m. on July 8. 

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE: It's not everyday a car falls into a sinkhole in the Chicago suburbs.

But that is exactly what happened early Tuesday after storms washed out a portion of roadway on Thomas Road near McDonald Road in Burlington leaving behind a 10-foot wide sinkhole, according to the Daily Herald. 

A Taurus occupied by Juanita Pineda, 41, and her son, Benjamin Hernandez, 15, drove completely into the sinkhole while a pickup truck driven by Irvin Morero, 25, of Elgin, drove over the Taurus, the Daily Herald reports. 

There are no lights in the area where the sinkhole opened up and the driver of the pickup truck said he did not see the sinkhole — or the first vehicle that went in around 4 a.m. — when he drove over the car, according to CBS Chicago. 

The sinkhole, CBS Chicago reports, was wider than the entire two-lane road where it opened up. 

Pineda and Hernandez were taken to the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries while Morero was treated and released at the scene, according to the article.

Read more on the Daily Herald


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