Crime & Safety
Car Hits Electric Pole, Snarls Niles Traffic
It caused outages and no one could travel northbound on Harlem all afternoon and evening. Police volunteers directed traffic for hours.
At about 12:40 p.m. Monday, a car hit an electrical pole on Harlem Avenue, just north of Touhy, and caused motorists traffic headaches all afternoon and evening.
It also caused some electrical outages. The traffic lights at the Harlem-Touhy intersection were out, and the Niles Police Departments VIPS (Volunteers in Police Service) team were directing traffic.
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At 7 p.m. ComEd crews had the pole propped up with heavy equipment, and were expected to have everything back to normal by Tueday morning's rush hour.
"We haven't had any northbound traffic on Harlem Avenue all day," said Niles Police Sergeant Ron Brandt at about 8:30 p.m.
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Brandt said one driver was taken for medical attention, and police issued tickets but did not make any arrests.
"There was no DUI or criminal activity. It was just an accident," he said.
The police accident report said the tree had been uprooted, he added, but that may have meant it loosened from its base and tilted without completely falling over.
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