Flossmoor car fire 20161027_144113
Local News

Man charged with DUI after fiery two-car crash in Flossmoor

  Two cars burn early Oct. 23 after a collision at Vollmer 
  Road and Crawford Avenue in Flossmoor. Both drivers 
  escaped, but one was transported by ambulance to 
  a local hospital for treatment.
(Photo provided by 
  Olympia Fields Police Department)

 

Two cars caught fire following an early-morning collision this week at Vollmer Road and Crawford Avenue in Flossmoor.

A Richton Park man was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and related traffic offenses, police said.

Kenneth Johnson, 38, of the 4200 block of Andover Drive, was charged with DUI, having a blood alcohol content in excess of .08 percent, failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident and operating an uninsured vehicle, a Flossmoor police report said.

The accident occurred at 4 a.m. on Oct. 23. The two drivers were driving westbound on Vollmer. According to the report, the driver of a 2000 Lincoln Town Car stopped at a red light at Crawford.

Johnson, driving a 2010 Chevrolet Camaro, drove into the rear end of the Lincoln at a high rate of speed, the report said.

Deputy Police Chief Tod Kamleiter said such rear end collisions can lead to vehicle fires and that is exactly what happened. The gas tank of the Lincoln burst into flames and before long both cars were  burning.

The two drivers managed to escape their vehicles, the report said.

The driver of the Lincoln,  a Chicago Heights man,  told police that he works as a limousine driver and was on his way to pick up a customer. He complained about pain in his leg and was taken by ambulance to Franciscan Health St. James Olympia Fields.

Johnson told police he had been drinking, according to the report. Police administered field sobriety tests and also administered a Breathalyzer test. According to that test, his blood alcohol content registered at .136 percent, which led to the DUI charge, the report says.

Johnson was released on a personal recognizance bond and will respond to the charges at the Cook County courthouse in Markham. 

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