Gurnee police officer rescues driver from fiery crash

GURNEE, Ill. - A Gurnee police officer rescued a driver from a burning vehicle following a crash on Illinois Route 41 on Thursday night. 

Officers stopped a driver on southbound Route 41 near Route 120 at 9:50 p.m. The driver, Zyaire France, a 20-year-old man from Zion, had an active warrant out of Wisconsin. 

France was arrested and transported to the Lake County Jail. One of the responding officers stayed with France's car waiting for someone to pick it up. 

The officer was sitting in the squad car parked behind the vehicle with the emergency lights activated around 10:55 p.m. when a Chevrolet Trax rear-ended the officer's car. 

Police say the Chevrolet was driven by a 63-year-old man from North Chicago. There were two other passengers inside.

The officer was not injured and rushed to extract the driver from the vehicle that had already caught fire. The passengers, a 61-year-old male and a 12-year-old female from North Chicago, were able to get out without assistance. 

The Gurnee Fire Department responded and put out the flames that engulfed the Chevrolet. 

The driver and two passengers were transported to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville with minor injuries. Police say intoxication may be a factor in the collision. 

Southbound Route 41 was closed for several hours while investigators with the Major Crash Assistance Team (MCAT) responded to the scene to investigate. The crash remains under investigation.