VIDEO: 5 injured after car crashes into CTA bus stop on South Side

Evelyn Holmes Image
Thursday, June 13, 2019
5 injured after car crashes into CTA bus stop on South Side
Five people were injured after a crash sent a car into a CTA bus stop on the South Side Thursday morning, Chicago police said.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Five people were injured after a crash sent a car careening into a CTA bus stop on the South Side Thursday morning, Chicago police said.

The crash occurred at about 6:23 a.m. as witnesses told police a maroon minivan and a four-door black sedan crashed after one of the vehicles traveling from Jeffery Avenue onto 87th Street was struck by the other vehicle. The crash caused one of the vehicles to hit a CTA bus stop, hitting four pedestrians.

"He just, I thought he was going to stop, but he just kept right on going into the intersection," said Joseph Bradford, the driver who was struck in the crash. The driver of the minivan could not be reached for comment.

As Bradford recovers at home, he said police cited him for traveling too fast for conditions. He said he's just happy the accident wasn't a lot worse.

"I'm just grateful to God that I'm here and that they're here to talk about it," he said.

Five people were transported to hospitals, with at least one taken in critical condition. The crash was captured on surveillance video. One vehicle ended up near a tree and another ended up on a basketball court.

"It was terrible," said Patrick Robinson, a Safe Passage worker. "It was terrible. You had one that was laying in the bus shed. Then you had two that was on the corner where I was at. Then you had another one right outside the bus shed."

Robinson said he arrived for his shift to find mangled cars on the sidewalk and victims laying in the street.

"So I immediately pulled my car over, assisted one of them, holding the hand of one of the pedestrians that was on the ground, while she kept saying her legs, her legs were hurting," Robinson said.

Neighborhood resident Yvonne Johnson said she would have been at the bus stop at the time of the crash, but was running late.

"I would have been in that crash," Johnson said. "I just thank God. I just thank him for one more day. I just thank him for sparing me."

Residents said they were not surprised by the crash and that cars frequently speed through the intersection.