A Naperville man faces impaired driving and drug charges after he reportedly drove his 1997 BMW head-on into a box truck near the intersection of First Avenue and Waubansee Road in Riverside on the afternoon of July 18.
Neither driver was injured in the crash, which happened about 1 p.m., but both vehicles sustained significant front-end damage.
According to police, 32-year-old Michael McGurk was headed southbound on First Avenue, when his BMW swerved across the center line and struck the truck, which was being driven northbound by a 50-year-old LaGrange man.
After striking the truck, McGurk reportedly kept driving until his car reached the bridge over Salt Creek, where he pulled over, got out of the car and ran into the woods. There he hid 14 individually packaged baggies of heroin near a tree, said police, before calling 911 to report the crash.
A police officer reported seeing McGurk emerging from the woods where the drugs were found. Police also reported finding two hypodermic needles and a mint tin with a burn mark on it in the woods near the hidden drugs.
McGurk reportedly told police he had a sneezing fit, which caused him to swerve over the center line and strike the truck. Police stated McGurk, who failed field sobriety tests, appeared lethargic and under the influence of some sort of narcotic.
Police said they later learned McGurk had purchased the heroin earlier in the day on the West Side of Chicago and was returning to his job in Brookfield when the crash happened.
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office approved felony charges against McGurk for possession of a controlled substance and for manufacture/delivery of a controlled substance in addition to the misdemeanor charge for driving under the influence.
