A 36-year-old woman was charged Wednesday with reckless homicide in connection with a four-car accident on the Tri-State Tollway near Gurnee that killed one person and injured three others.
Paul Steiger, 28, of Franklin, Wis., died Tuesday of multiple trauma after a Chevrolet Blazer being driven the wrong way by Linda Common, 36567 Grandwood Drive, Gurnee, struck a station wagon that then hit a car driven by Steiger, authorities said.
Common also was charged with aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol and possession of cannabis, according to Lake County Assistant State’s Atty. Jeff Pavletic.
Uninjured except for a few broken teeth, Common registered a blood-alcohol level of .28, nearly three times the legal limit of .10, Pavletic said.
Common apparently drove her vehicle southbound in the northbound lanes, hitting a station wagon and causing it to be tossed into the air. It landed on top of a Pontiac Grand Am driven by Steiger, according to Illinois State Police Capt. Greg Fritz. A Cadillac then hit the station wagon after it landed.
State police speculate that Common might have made a U-turn in the same northbound lanes she was traveling in after having missed her Grand Avenue exit, Fritz said.
The accident occurred at about 6:10 p.m. Tuesday near Illinois Highway 132, near the busy exit for Six Flags Great America and Gurnee Mills.
About a dozen Marines driving by stopped to help pull victims out of their cars and stabilize them until help arrived, said Gurnee Deputy Fire Chief Joseph Hubbard.
“Once our people were there, they helped them carry equipment, manned a fire hose line and gave a lot of nice help,” Hubbard said.
The driver of the station wagon, 16-year-old Allison Birch of Racine, Wis., was treated at St. Therese Medical Center in Waukegan and released. Her passenger, Daniel Simmons, 18, of Racine, remained there in fair condition Wednesday, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Common was found with 2.5 grams of suspected cannabis in her purse, authorities said.
