The girls -- Melissa Quintana, 19; Karina Cruz, 17; and Jaylene Perez, 15 -- remain hospitalized as of Monday afternoon. Cruz has a skull fracture, Perez a broken hip and Quintana cuts and bruises.
"The type of injuries we generally see are in the lower extremities because the bumper is around knee level. We [also] see head injuries," said Dr. Gary Merlotti, Mt. Sinai Hospital.
Abel Vicente, 19, of the 900-block of South Mayfield, was charged with three counts of aggravated DUI, police said.
Police say Vicente, who was driving a 1997 Nissan Sentra, tried to flee the scene, but was caught after crashing his car into a concrete median about a half a block away. He was taken to the Chicago Police Department's major accidents investigations unit for questioning and was charged late Monday night.
Police say alcohol may be involved in the crash, which occurred at 11 p.m. Sunday.
The girls spent a lot of time together, according to their family. Nelson Quintana is Melissa's stepfather.
"Always, always -- you know, you see on Facebook, pictures, they're always smiling, posting videos of having fun, and this is a video yesterday of jumping into the pool, doing kid stuff, you know? And stuff like this, I hope my daughter comes out fine. She had the hip surgery today, but hopefully she'll come out fine. I'm more concerned with my -- my second cousin, because she's the one that -- she's the one with the brain fracture," said Nelson Quintana, relative of all three victims.
Vicente is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday morning.
