Students from two Catholic high schools, who had scattered for the holidays, gathered in Lincolnwood Thursday near a patch of torn earth and splintered trees where two classmates had died in a violent car wreck earlier that morning.
As police began their investigation, the teenagers–some of whom had sat beside Dan Noble, 17, and Robert Oakes, 16, both of Chicago, in class last week–kept vigil for them at the spot where the crumpled car they had been riding in came to rest, after slicing through a concrete light pole.
Noble and Oakes, passengers in the back seat, were killed. A front-seat passenger and the driver, both 16 and from Chicago, survived, though the driver was in critical condition with a punctured lung.
The boys were staying at Noble’s home after celebrating his birthday and took a 2001 black Chrysler Sebring convertible for a joy ride in the early morning hours without his parents’ knowledge, according to school officials.
There was no indication that alcohol or drugs were involved, police said. The driver called 911 from his cell phone, though he was critically injured, said Lincolnwood Police Chief Daniel Gooris.
“They were all good kids,” said Alex Fleites, 16, who knew Noble. “It basically could have been anyone.”
The driver told police he was northbound in the 6900 block of north Cicero Avenue about 3:30 a.m. when he tried to make a lane change and lost control, said Gooris.
The car jumped the curb on the east side of the street and cut down the light pole, which crashed through the roof of the convertible car, fire officials said.
The car rolled for about 50 feet before it rammed a dozen trees, where it became lodged and almost invisible to firefighters who arrived soon after, said Lt. James Barnett of the Lincolnwood Fire Department.
“Getting to the car itself was tough because there was this big concrete light pole on top that we had to remove and then we had to use two chainsaws to cut away the trees, probably 10 or so,” Barnett said.
Despite the trees and the weight of the pole, which Barnett believed to be thousands of pounds, firefighters were able to reach survivors in minutes. Firefighters had the two surviving victims in an ambulance in less than 20 minutes, Barnett said.
Noble and Oakes were declared dead at the scene.
Police were not sure if all the teens were wearing seatbelts, but because no one was thrown from the violent wreck, it is likely that they were, said Gooris.
The driver told police he may have been driving too fast, Gooris said.
“It was one of the more extreme one-car accidents that I’ve seen,” Gooris said. “The fact that it was a convertible may have had something to do with there being fatalities.”
Noble was a member of the swimming and water polo teams at St. Patrick High School on the city’s Northwest Side.
Members of the swimming team arriving for practice at 8 a.m. fell into stunned silence when told of Noble’s death, said Brian Glorioso, athletic director at the school. Noble was a junior who was becoming a team leader, he said.
“It was shocking to everyone and the swimmers took it pretty hard,” Glorioso said. “They will all be with Dan at the funeral.”
Family members were still trying to reconstruct the last night of Oakes’ life, a junior who was an avid Cubs fan who loved fishing.
“The boys were all sleeping overnight at their friend’s house; they had permission,” said his aunt, Denise Gordon. “We don’t know what happened, but somehow they got in the car and took a ride at 3:30 in the morning.”
Oakes’ parents were extremely protective of their son, and Gordon said that it may have been the first time that he was allowed to stay overnight at a friend’s home.
All of the boys in the car other than Noble were students or former students at Loyola Academy, friends said.
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Some students who came to the crash site Thursday carried school yearbooks.
“It’s tough,” said Sam Maniscalco, 17, a classmate of Noble’s. “He was funny. He was outgoing. He was kind.”
Fleites remembered Noble as someone who was “just a fun, loud, outspoken kid.”
The news also spread among faculty, who days ago were teaching the boys grammar, math and science.
“It was breath-stopping when faculty members learned of this,” Glorioso said. “Dan was never in trouble, very sociable and always cordial … he was the kid you would hope your daughter would bring home and introduce to you.”
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