Tragic Vehicle Accident in Residential Driveway Claims Life of Toddler in Unincorporated Barrington
Lake County Sheriff’s Deputies responded about 6:35 p.m. Tuesday, April 20, 2021 to a call from Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, 450 Route 22, unincorporated Barrington, regarding an 18 month-old toddler that was brought to the hospital (only three miles away) after he had been run over by a vehicle at a different location.
Lake County Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the Good Shepherd Hospital and discovered the 18-month-old boy had been pronounced deceased. Further investigation revealed the incident occurred in the block of 25600 West Drake Road in unincorporated Barrington. Lake County Sheriff’s Detectives and members of the Lake County Sheriff’s Technical Crash Investigations Team responded to the scene.
Preliminary investigation shows the toddler’s father, a 48-year-old male residing at the same address on Drake Road, entered his Chevrolet pickup truck, which was parked in his driveway. At this time the toddler was outside in the vicinity of his mother and other siblings. The toddler was standing approximately 50 feet away from the pickup truck when his father entered the pickup. Just before the father began backing down the driveway the toddler ran toward the pickup, which nobody saw. The father began backing up then turned the pickup, so he could pull forward out of the driveway. This caused one of the front tires of the pickup to roll over the toddler.
The crash remains under investigation by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Technical Crash Investigations Team and Lake County Coroner’s Office. The preliminarily investigation indicates the fatality involves a tragic accident.