Aurora teen killed after crashing car into house near Batavia, Mooseheart

BATAVIA TOWNSHIP – Authorities continue to investigate the circumstances behind a crash that killed an Aurora teen after he drove into a house near the intersection of Mooseheart Road and Route 31 in unincorporated Batavia Township.

Max J. Dobner, 19, of the 1100 block Grenada Avenue, Aurora, was killed in the crash. Witnesses said his 1999 Chrysler Cirrus was going at a high rate of speed before the crash, which occurred at 4:16 p.m., just south of the Mooseheart campus.

An autopsy is set for Thursday. The crash is still under investigation by the Kane County Accident Reconstruction Team.

The car was heading east on Mooseheart Road and continued straight into the T-shaped intersection and into the house. The occupants of the home were in the backyard and were not injured.

“We just heard an explosion and the windows being blown out,” said Theresa Kettlewell, who was in the backyard with her husband, Scott, and their 2-year-old son, Noah.

The car crashed into Noah’s room.

“His room is basically completely destroyed,” Theresa Kettlewell said.

Kettlewell is expecting another child in October but said she is physically fine.

“It was more of a shock of a car being in my house,” she said.

The couple has been renting the two-story house at 375 N. Lincolnway for the last 10 months. She said they don’t know whether they will be staying with a cousin who lives in the area or in a hotel until the house is repaired.

“I have no idea how long it will take to repair,” she said.

After the crash, her husband went back into the house and found their 4-year-old Papillon dog in the dining room safe and sound. But their 2-year-old cat is still missing.

“She’s probably hiding,” Theresa Kettlewell said.

Their next-door neighbor, Dave Wilkening, said someone drove into his garage several years ago and did $15,000 damage to his wife’s car. He said cars drive too fast in the area.

“I don’t think it would hurt to have more patrolling here,” he said.

The speed limit in the area is 35 mph, he said.

Page Graham, who also lives in the neighborhood, agreed.

“I’ve almost gotten hit a few times,” she said. “It’s a dangerous intersection. It needs a light.”

North Aurora Fire Chief Steve Miller said the car hit a brick wall and a tree before going airborne and crashing into the house.

“He had a heartbeat when we got him out,” Miller said.

Miller said the driver died on his way to Provena Mercy Hospital in Aurora.

Miller, who has worked for the department for 39 years, said it was one of the worse crashes he had seen.

“It looked like a bomb went off in the house,” Miller said. “I haven’t seen anything like this in all my years.”

The Kane County Sheriff’s Office was assisted at the scene by the North Aurora and Batavia Police and Fire Departments, and the Kane County Office of Emergency Management.