Teen injured in New Lenox crash involving semi that smashed through fence

A teen driver was airlifted to a hospital after a crash involving his vehicle and a semitrailer, which smashed into a residential backyard off Laraway Road in New Lenox.

About 5 a.m., officers responded to a collision on Laraway Road near Spencer Road and learned a semitrailer and a passenger vehicle were involved in the crash, New Lenox Police Chief Louis Alessandrini said.

The semitrailer had crashed through a fence and into Kristin Petravich’s backyard on Bristol Park Road.

“We woke up to a large boom and went outside and there was a semi in our backyard,” Petravich said.

An emergency crew with New Lenox Fire Protection District was called to the scene and had to assist in the removal of the male teen driver from the passenger vehicle, Alessandrini said.

Alessandrini said the driver was a juvenile licensed driver and a New Lenox resident. He was taken to Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox and then airlifted to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, he said.

“As far as I know, he’s still being treated at this time,” Alessandrini said.

He said the male driver of the semitrailer was not injured and has been cooperative with the police throughout the investigation of the crash.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

An accident reconstruction team from the Will County Sheriff’s Office was called to assist the New Lenox police with the investigation, Alessandrini said.