Child, 2 others hospitalized after car crash in rural DeKalb County

Three people, including a child, were hospitalized after a two-car crash in rural DeKalb Saturday, authorities said.

DeKalb County sheriff’s deputies and paramedics with the DeKalb Fire Department responded to a report of a two-vehicle crash around 1:25 p.m. Saturday. The crash occurred at the intersection of Illinois State Route 23 and Perry Road in rural DeKalb County south of DeKalb city, according to a news release from the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office.

When crews arrived, they discovered the driver and passenger of a gray 2009 Toyota Venza, along with a child who was a passenger in a white 1997 GMC Sierra were injured. The three were taken by DeKalb paramedics to Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital in DeKalb with non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said.

The driver of the GMC Sierra, Yahir Mendez, 34, of DeKalb, was charged with failure to secure a child younger than 8 in a restraint system, aggravated driving on a revoked license and operating a vehicle with no evidence of registration. Mendez was also arrested on an outstanding warrant for failure to appear in court on a charge of aggravated DUI, according to the sheriff’s office.

He was released by the sheriff’s office and given a future date to appear in court on the charges.

Mendez allegedly failed to yield to the southbound Toyota Venza – driven by a 72-year-old Shabbona man and his 66-year-old Shabbona woman passenger – at the intersection. The two vehicle collided at the intersection, according to the sheriff’s office. Both vehicles were towed from the crash site.

The Shabbona man was not wearing his seatbelt at the time of the crash, according to the sheriff’s office.