The family of a 14-year-old boy who died from injuries sustained in a crash outside Fuller’s Car Wash in Hinsdale, July 17, 2023, is questioning the timing of last week’s bankruptcy filing by Fuller’s.
Sean Richards was struck and killed after a teenage employee from Fuller’s Car Wash, 102 Chicago Ave., hit the accelerator, instead of the brake, according to police, and drove into the side of Fontano’s Subs across the street. Richards was walking on the sidewalk there when the incident occurred.
A statement issued Friday by Bradley M. Cosgrove and Charles R. Haskins, partners at Clifford Law Offices in Chicago, the firm representing the Richards family, stated the family was not surprised that the bankruptcy was filed Jan. 29, “just hours before its responsible parties were set to have their depositions taken in the wrongful death matter.” The Richards family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Fuller’s.
The attorney representing Fuller’s, David K. Welch, of Burke, Warren, MacKay & Serritella, said Monday he had no comment on the statement made by the Richards family.
“It’s a tragic event; I can’t imagine, as a parent myself, what it’s like to go through that,” Welch said.
He said Fuller’s has filed Chapter 11 to restructure debt and will remain open for business.
The Richards family, in their statement, said they were not surprised by the bankruptcy filing.
“What is interesting about this filing is the timing,” they said. “Our understanding of the effect of filing for bankruptcy is an automatic stay on the underlying litigation, which cannot proceed unless and until the bankruptcy stay is lifted by the Federal Bankruptcy Court.”
The Richards said in their statement that the bankruptcy filing occurred fewer than 48 hours before Martin Contreras Jr., the Fuller’s employee driving the vehicle that struck Sean Richards, was going to have to answer questions under oath and less than a week before the two owners and operators of Fuller’s, Doug Fuller and his sister Susan Groenwold, were going to have to answer questions under oath.
“Last month, we both sat and answered all of the Fullers’ lawyer’s questions under oath, but they are not willing to do the same,” the Richards family said in their statement. “Why are they so afraid to have to tell the truth? What are they hiding?”
Family members said they had done everything they could “to get to the truth, accountability and public safety, and the Fullers have done everything they can to avoid having to tell the truth, be held accountable for their actions and act in the interest of public safety.”
“We are familiar with the old saying that justice delayed is justice denied,” the Richards family said in their statement. “And once again, (the) Fullers are using every trick in the book to delay our day in court. But we are patient and determined and we will ultimately achieve our objectives of the truth, accountability and public safety.”
Fuller’s Service Center has been operating for 79 years, according to the business’s website. The company has an auto service and tire center in Hinsdale and 11 full service car washes throughout the state.
The bankruptcy filing states that Fuller’s has assets of $500,000 to $1million, liabilities of $1 million to $10 million and 50 to 99 total creditors.
Chuck Fieldman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
