A police squad car lies against a tree in the median of Lake Shore Drive near Irving Park Road this morning. (Alex Garcia/ Chicago Tribune)
A Chicago police sergeant answering a call about a burglary died this morning when his squad car hit a tree in the median along southbound Lake Shore Drive near Irving Park Road, sources say.
The 56-year-old officer was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, the sources said. He had been assigned to the Town Hall District and had been on the force for 21 years, police said.
Details of the accident were not immediately available, but sources say he was on his way to a burglary in progress when he crashed his car.
The accident occurred shortly before 5:15 a.m. and police closed all four southbound lanes, forcing traffic off at the Irving Park exit. As of 6:45 a.m., all but one lane had been reopened.
-- Staff report