McHenry County Man, 19, Killed In 3-Vehicle Crash: Police

MCHENRY COUNTY, IL — A 19-year-old Harvard man who was critically injured in a three-vehicle collision on Route 14 near Woodstock last week has died.

The man, who has been identified as Diego Gonzalez Mendoza, 19, of Harvard, was flown to Javon Bea Hospital-Riverside in Rockford in critical condition following the Feb. 12 crash and died later that day, according to the Lake & McHenry County Scanner

Authorities say alcohol is believed to be a factor in the crash, which happened at the intersection of Route 14 and Dunham Road near Woodstock at about 2:15 p.m. on Feb. 12 when a 2017 Chevrolet Cruze headed south on Route 14 attempted to pass a semi in the 17100 block of Route 14 in unincorporated Harvard and rear-ended a 2011 Infinity.

The Infinity went off the road and came to rest in an open field, authorities said. The Chevrolet continued south, crossing over the roadway and exiting left into the parking lot of a business where it struck an unoccupied Hyundai Sonata head-on.

Mendoza was identified as the driver of the Chevrolet, according to the Lake & McHenry County Scanner article. The driver of the Infinity, a 63-year-old Lake Barrington man, and a passenger in his vehicle, a 63-year-old Chicago woman, were not injured.

During the collision, a natural gas main was severed. NICOR gas responded to the scene for the natural gas leak and determined the area was safe.

An investigation into the collision is ongoing.