Crime & Safety
Passenger Tells Police Driver of Friday's One-Car Crash Fell Asleep Behind Wheel
Geneva police on Monday named the driver and passenger of Friday's one-vehicle crash that severely injured the two young women. The crash remains under investigation. The passenger, from Batavia, was listed in critical condition Monday night.
The passenger of the car that barreled through a stop sign and crashed into trees at Dodson and Bennett streets Friday told police that the 20-year-old driver fell asleep at the wheel.
The Chevrolet Cavalier that ran through the stop sign around 10:30 a.m. Friday was driven by Nicole Wiesner, 20, of Geneva, with Lindsey Vanderheyden, 22, of Batavia, as passenger. According to a witness, the Cavalier drove through the stop sign at the T-end of Dodson Street, ran headlong across Route 25—North Bennett Street in Geneva—"at a high rate of speed" and crashed into trees next to a driveway of a home across the street.
Vanderheyden was listed in critical condition at Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, according to a hospital spokesman on Monday night.
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Police reports gathered Monday indicate the Cavalier hit the split-rail fence and trees around the driveway of the home at 224 N. Bennett St.
"Vanderheyden said the driver fell asleep just prior to the accident, and she was attempting to wake the driver prior to the accident," the police report said.
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Wiesner said she does not remember the accident.
According to police reports, Wiesner was extricated and transported by ambulance to Mercy Center Hospital in Aurora. Vanderheyden was extricated and transported to Good Samaritan Hospital via a medical helicopter that landed on Geneva's State Street bridge and took off around 11:20 a.m.
Prior police reports indicate that Wiesner had been cited for at a home in the 800 block of Britta Lane and in an apartment parking lot in the 300 block of Brittany Court.
Police reports did not indicate whether alcohol was a factor in Friday's crash, but the accident remains under investigation.
The Kane County Accident Reconstruction Team is assisting with the investigation. Wiesner has a court date of June 19 for disobeying a stop sign.
