Feb. 01--A Dolton man has been charged with drunken driving in a collision between a Chicago fire truck and a carload of people in the West Pullman neighborhood on the Far South Side that injured 10 people Tuesday.
None of the victims -- including three children and four Chicago firefighters -- suffered life-threatening injuries when the truck, responding to a fire call, collided with a mid-size sedan at Halsted and 128th streets, police said. A female passenger did suffer a broken neck, authorities said.
Christopher Caston, 18, faces a misdemeanor driving under the influence charge, and was cited with failure to yield to an emergency vehicle, failure to stop at a stop sign and driving without insurance, police said. Investigators are seeking to have the DUI charge against Caston, of the 15300 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue in Dolton, upgraded to a felony, police said.
Engine No. 62 was southbound on Halsted with its lights and sirens activated, on its way to a call nearby, around 6:20 p.m. Tuesday, Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said just after the crash.
Firefighters saw a car stop as they approached 128th Place, Langford said. "They assumed it was stopped for them," he said.
But the car started moving again and the truck could not stop in time -- broadsiding the car on the passenger's side, Langford said.
Rescue crews worked to free five people trapped inside the crumpled vehicle. Those five victims were all hospitalized, but later were determined to have suffered no serious injuries, police said. All four firefighters, including a lieutenant, were taken in good condition to MetroSouth Medical Center in Blue Island.
The car was left mangled and "caved in" on its passenger side from the wreck, according to a police spokesman.
A photograph of Caston was unavailable this afternoon, because Chicago Police do not release photos of suspected charged with misdemeanors.
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