Crash Sends Five To Hospital, One Airlifted

A Niles woman, her two small children and her passenger were taken to hospitals Tuesday after a crash in unincorporated McHenry County.

Margaret Zienkiewicz, 32, of Niles and her sons, ages 1 and 5, and the driver of the other vehicle, Nicole Mann of McHenry, were taken to Centegra Hospital in McHenry, where they were treated and released, according to the McHenry County Sheriff's Office.

Zienkiewicz's passenger, Erin Tufano, 31, was taken by Flight for Life medical helicopter to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, where she was in critical but stable condition. The sheriff's office did not give a town of residence for Tufano.

Police said all parties were properly belted, and neither alcohol nor drugs appear to have played a role. It occurred when Zienkiewicz, driving eastbound on Miller Road, stopped her vehicle at a stop sign at Spring Grove Road and then proceeded forward, in front of Mann's vehicle as she was driving on Spring Grove Road. There was no stop sign on Spring Grove Road at that intersection.

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