Crime & Safety

Details Emerge in Crash That Killed 3 From Vernon Hills Family

The crash occurred Friday night about 90 miles north Flagstaff, Ariz.

A pick-up truck was being chased by police when it collided with the van of a Vernon Hills family in Arizonia last week, causing the crash that killed Tomohiro Hirayama, 50; his wife, Sachiyo, 41; and their son, Yuki, 16, who was a Stevenson High School sophomore, according to the Daily Herald. 

Their 9-year-old daughter, Rinka, survived the crash and remains at Phoenix Children's Hospital in Arizonia, according to the article. 

The crash occurred about 9 p.m. on U.S. Route 160 — about 90 miles north of Flagstaff, Ariz. — shortly after police began to pursue a Ford pick-up truck that was reportedly driving erratically and then  crossed the centerline and hit the Hirayama's van head-on, according to the Daily Herald.

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The truck burst into flames and two occupants in the truck were killed and have not been identified, according to the Chicago Tribune.  

The family had recently moved to Vernon Hills from Holland after Tomohiro Hirayama got a job in the area. Yuki had transferred to Stevenson at the beginning of the school year and was a part of the school's fencing program and was also a member of the Stevenson Patriots in New Situations, which is a club for transfer students, according to the Chicago Tribune. 

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Rinka attends Half Day School in Lincolnshire and the Hirayamas have no known relatives in the United States, according to the Lincolnshire Review. 

Stevenson was making social workers, counselors and psychologists available for any students needing support and a counseling center was open all day Monday in Room 2104—and longer, if needed, according to the Stevenson High School website. 

Funeral arrangements for the family were unknown as of Monday, according to the Stevenson website. 


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