Two teenage brothers from Orland Park were killed early Wednesday after their motorcycles collided on a road a mile from their home after a police officer hadtried to pull them over for speeding, law enforcement officials said.
Michael T. Gibbons Jr., 18, and Justin M. Gibbons, 17, died of head and chest injuries, coroners in Cook and Will Counties said. A woman riding on Michael Gibbons' bike, Jacquelyn Tellez, 19, of Tinley Park, was thrown into bushes and walked away from the scene, police said.
The accident occurred at 12:45 a.m. on 151st Street near Wingate Road in Homer Glen, a hilly, two-lane road that the youths' father, Michael Sr., said "they'd driven a hundred times."
The brothers had just left a party where they had been drinking, said Ray Horwath, director of the Will County sheriff's traffic division.
Michael Gibbons Jr. bought his high performance Honda road bike a month ago, Illinois secretary of state records show, and Justin Gibbons was riding a powerful Yamaha off-road bike that had no lights, Horwath said.
Neither of the teenagers wore a helmet, something the brothers' father said he and his wife, an emergency room nurse, "had pushed" to no avail.
Before the crash, an Orland Park police officer passed the brothers as they headed west on 151st Street. The officer clocked Justin driving 76 m.p.h. in a 40 m.p.h. zone, with Michael behind him, Horwath said.
The officer, whom police declined to identify, turned on his emergency lights and made a U-turn, hoping the youths would pull over, said Orland Park Police Commander Chuck Doll. But when the officer saw that neither bike was slowing down, he turned his lights off and continued driving at the speed limit, Doll said.
"Part of our pursuit policy is to not pursue at high speed for traffic violations," Doll said.
As the officer followed the bikers, he saw what appeared to be a plume of debris at the crest of a hill down the road and found that both bikes had crashed, Doll said.
Michael Gibbons was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:01 a.m. Justin was pronounced dead at 3:12 a.m. in Christ Hospital and Medical Center in Oak Lawn.
Tellez, whom police did not see at the scene, was driven by a friend to Palos Community Hospital, where she was in fair condition Wednesday.
Horwath said evidence at the scene indicates Michael's front wheel might have hit Justin's rear wheel, causing them both to lose control.
"But there were other factors," Horwath said. "Helmets would have helped. And they were drinking and driving. They were speeding. And one had no lights on." Horwath said toxicology test results would not be available for several weeks.
Born 13 months apart, Michael and Justin were more like best friends than brothers, family and friends said.
They played on the local Vikings hockey team together, and both graduated from Sandburg High School, Michael in 2001 and Justin two weeks ago.
Justin had signed up to become a union carpenter, joining his father, a superintendent for Walsh Construction, and brother.
