A vehicle was heavily damaged after its driver crashed into a pole and had to be extricated overnight on New Years Eve, but Niles police said no charges or investigation are pending, and the condition of the driver is unknown to authorities.
Emergency responders were called around 3 a.m. on Jan. 1 to the intersection of West Touhy and North Milwaukee avenues in Niles on a report of a crash. A fire department spokesman told Pioneer Press that the incident was a single-vehicle crash where the driver, identified only as a woman around 40 years old, slammed into a pole. She was the only occupant in the car.
There was a “large impact to the driver door,” according to fire department District Chief Evan Schachtel. He said the woman was conscious as emergency responders worked to pull her from the wreckage.
She was transported to Lutheran General Hospital.
Hours later, photos depicting the damage and condition of the car were posted on the Niles Fire Department’s Facebook page. There were pictures showing the vehicle with its windshield badly cracked and separated from the car frame. Also, the hood of the car, and other front end parts, were badly damaged.
Schachtel said it took firefighters about nine minutes to extricate the woman.
On Monday, a Niles police spokesman told Pioneer Press that the driver is not facing any charges and there is no pending investigation.
“It was just an accident,” the police spokesman said.