I love reading these police press releases. I learn so much from what they say. I learn even more from what they don’t. So, out of curiosity I occasionally check out McHenry County Sheriff’s media releases. I like to know what they think is important.
Yesterday a release about a man crashing his ATV, being unconscious, and having to be evacuated by helicopter to the hospital caught my eye. According to the McHenry County Sheriff’s police:
“On November 3, 2013 at approximately 3 PM, McHenry County Sheriff’s Office Deputies and the Nunda Township Fire Protection District responded to the intersection of Riverside Dr. and Kerry Ave, in unincorporated McHenry regarding a reported ATV crash. Upon arrival Deputies discovered that Timothy P. Ritchie had been operating an ATV on the roadway and it had overturned; landing on top of him. Nunda Township called for the Flight for Life helicopter and Ritchie was transported to Condell Medical Center. Ritchie’s injuries were later discovered to be non-life-threatening.”
This sounds bad. I’m glad to hear that the Sheriff’s office says the injuries are non-life-threatening. I’m curious as to what the extent of the injuries are. The Northwest Herald is reporting that the man “was knocked unconscious…”
Unconscious usually means brain injury. Brain injuries can be fairly serious, resulting in nasty things like paralysis and severe disability- possibly lasting a lifetime.
So, while it’s good that the man will likely live, it’s not like he’ll necessarily be walking out of the hospital tomorrow- we don’t know. There’s more to the MCSD press release, though. They’ll let us know what his prognosis is, right?
Sheriff’s Deputies completed their investigation and issued citations to Ritchie for: Driving Under the Influence, Driving on a Revoked License, Operating an ATV on the Roadway, and Careless Operation of an ATV.
Ah. Glad they didn’t leave that part out. We’d all be horrified if we knew this man had not been cited for DUI and traffic offenses almost immediately. Thankfully they didn’t wait on either charging him, or letting us know they charged him.
I’ll let you know when they issue the media release on his updated condition, so you can be sure he’ll even be competent and able to go to court to answer the charges. I’m sure the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department is working on it right now.
