Car veers off LSD, crashes onto frozen Lincoln Park lagoon

CHICAGO (WLS) -- One person is dead and another is in fair condition after they were pulled from a car that veered off Lake Shore Drive and crashed onto a frozen lagoon in Lincoln Park early Monday morning.

The black Lexus sedan was headed south around 1:45 a.m. Monday when it left the road in the 2200-block of North LSD. The vehicle rolled several times before coming to rest on its roof on top of the lagoon, which is located near the Lincoln Park Zoo.

Chicago police say the vehicle went off the road at a spot along Lake Shore Drive where the guardrail was already missing from a previous accident.

Rescue crews from the Chicago Fire Dept. SCUBA team tethered themselves to the ground before slowly crawling on the ice to the wreckage. They had to extricate both passengers.

A woman, who removed first, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where she later died. She has been identified as Claudia Beruben, 37, of Calumet Park.

The 42-year-old male was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in serious-to-critical condition. He was upgraded to fair condition Monday afternoon.

Police said he is in custody in the hospital with charges pending and the incident appears to be alcohol-related.

All lanes of southbound Lake Shore Drive were blocked just south of Fullerton Avenue during the rescue and subsequent clean up. They were open again by 6:15 a.m.

The Major Accidents Investigation Unit is investigating.