Two Killed In Motorcycle Crash

Two former students died in a motorcycle crash early Sunday morning on Milwaukee Avenue in Wheeling, after attempted to pull over the driver for speeding.

Stevenson High School used its Facebook fan page to identify the crash victims as 2006 graduate Justine Randall and Michael Sean Meyer, who attended Stevenson for three years before moving out of the district in 2002.

According to Buffalo Grove police, two officers in one squad car observed the motorcycle exit the vicinity of the on Milwaukee Avenue at a high rate of speed around 3 a.m. Sunday.

When officers attempted to pull over the motorcycle, which was driven by a male with a female passenger, the motorcycle accelerated south on Milwaukee Avenue, from the traffic light just north of Lake-Cook Road, and did not stop when police activated their emergency lights, according to a press release from the Buffalo Grove Police Department.

The officers turned off the emergency lights, disengaging the traffic stop near the intersection of Milwaukee and Lake-Cook, and contacted the emergency dispatch center to advice Wheeling police that the motorcycle was speeding southbound on Milwaukee Avenue through that community.

Buffalo Grove Cmdr. Steve Husak said that while the village’s officers are permitted to follow through with traffic stops that begin in Buffalo Grove and lead into Wheeling or unincorporated Lake County, it’s not uncommon for police not to pursue speeding motorcycles.

“Generally, we don’t pursue motorcycles that are going at a high rate of speed. We’re not going to catch them anyway,” he said.

After ceasing efforts to pull over the motorcycle, Buffalo Grove officers continued driving southbound into Wheeling, where they discovered that the motorcycle had crashed south of Dundee Road. The officers notified the Wheeling police and fire departments of the crash, the release said.

The Buffalo Grove officers’ actions are under internal review by the department, Husak said. Reviews are routine in certain situations, Husask said, such as a fatal crash or when an officer discharges a taser gun.

“It’s common to review anything like that,” Husak said. “We want to make sure that everything was handled fairly and that the actions of the officers followed protocol.”

He said there is no timeline in place to complete the review, which will include interviews with the officers and a check of their compliance with the department’s policies. Meanwhile, the crash investigation is being handled by the Wheeling Police Department.