3 Injured In 5-Vehicle Crash Involving School Bus: Police

LAKE COUNTY, IL — A 74-year-old man may have suffered a medical episode before colliding with a stopped bus in Beach Park Tuesday morning, authorities said.

The collision happened at about 8 a.m. when a GMC Acadia, driven by the Zion man, was headed north on North Sheridan Road and, for an unknown reason, ran into the stop arm of a school bus that was stopped to pick up children, according to a news release from the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

The bus was stopped in the northbound lanes of Mawman Avenue at the time of the collision. The children who were boarding the bus were not hit or injured, and the driver and two children already on the bus also were not injured, police said.

Following the collision, the GMC continued north and sideswiped a Ford Focus, which was also headed north on Mawman, authorities said. The impact caused the Ford Focus to crash into a utility pole.

The GMC went on to hit a southbound Chevrolet Colorado, which was driven by a 39-year-old Winthrop Harbor man, and a southbound Ford Flex, driven by a 28-year-old Fox Lake woman.

The driver of the GMC was taken to an area hospital in critical condition, and the drivers of the Ford and Chevrolet were also transported to hospitals with serious injuries that are not considered life-threatening.

Authorities say the GMC driver may have suffered a medical episode prior to the collision. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.