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Elderly Man Killed By SUV Outside Nursing Home

MOUNT PROSPECT, Ill. (CBS) -- An elderly man was struck and killed by an SUV Tuesday night after apparently walking away from the nursing home where he lived in northwest suburban Mount Prospect.

William Spears, 78, was pronounced dead at 11:27 p.m. at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.

Spears was struck by a vehicle after walking outside a nursing home at 700 E. Euclid Av. in Prospect Heights, according to the medical examiner office.

Mount Prospect police said Spears was walking south across the lanes of traffic on Euclid Avenue near Hemlock Lane when a Ford Escape traveling west on Euclid saw him crossing the road using a walker, a release from police said. The occupants of the Escape attempted to help get the man out of the road but he refused their assistance and the man continued walking south on Euclid.

An Arlington Heights man driving an Audi SUV was driving east in the curb lane when he did not see Spears in the roadway and struck him. The SUV then collided with the Ford Escape that was stopped in the left hand turn lane, the release said.

Spears was taken to Lutheran General where he was pronounced dead. The driver of the SUV and occupants of the Ford Escape were not injured in the crash, the release said.

No charges have been filed against the driver of the SUV.

Spears' home address is listed as an Emeritus senior living facility, according to the medical examiner's office. A spokeswoman for Emeritus, located at the Euclid address, could not immediately confirm if Spears lived there.

The nursing home is located in Prospect Heights but is just blocks from the border of Mount Prospect, where the accident occurred, police said.

Anyone who may have witnessed the crash is asked to call Mount Prospect police at (847) 870-5656.

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