Wrong-way driver killed in crash on Lake Shore Drive near 39th Street; 6 hurt

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A wrong-way crash involving three vehicles shut down northbound Lake Shore Drive near 39th Street for more than four hours Monday morning. One person was killed and six others were injured.

Police said Jose Quintuna Jr. was traveling south in the northbound lanes of Lake Shore Drive around 2:30 a.m. Monday when his 2001 Nissan Sentra struck a Chevy Impala and sideswiped a 2011 Ford Fusion near 39th Street. Quintuna, 27, was killed. No one else was inside his vehicle.

Four people were inside the Chevy Impala. Three of them were taken to hospitals and the fourth, a 25-year-old male, refused treatment. The male driver, 23, and a female passenger, 21, were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where they are listed in serious condition. A female passenger, 22, is listed in stable condition at Stroger Hospital.

Two women inside the Ford Fusion refused medical treatment. Corron Baskin was a passenger in that car.

"It was pretty scary to see a car going the wrong side of the road and running right into us. All we saw were headlights. We just moved right away," Baskin said.

The northbound lanes of Lake Shore Drive between 47th Street and 39th Street were shut down while the Major Accidents Unit investigated the crash. They re-opened around 7 a.m. Monday.

Police said alcohol may have been a factor, but they are waiting for the results of the Cook County Medical Examiner's report.

As traffic backed up Monday morning, several drivers drove off Lake Shore Drive and onto the Lakefront Trail in an effort to get around the delay. The bike path is not open to drivers. These maneuvers created a potentially dangerous situation for joggers and cyclists using the path early Monday morning.