On May 11, 2009, Manuel Banuelos was driving a dump truck through a construction zone on northbound Interstate 94 in Lake County, Ill., when he attempted to turn into a construction site a quarter-mile north of Illinois Route 176. At that point, Banuelos was rear-ended by a semi-tractor-trailer driven by…
G3 Enterprises, a wine and beverage packaging and transportation company, had a long-term subhauling contract with Sun Valley Express Transport Inc. Sun Valley in turn contracted with Velazquez & Sons Trucking Co. to haul grapes using G3’s trailers. Velazquez & Sons assigned its new driver, Juan Velazquez, to do the…
A 56-year-old woman, Shirley Walker, who was wheelchair-bound, was receiving transportation services from a company known as LocoMotion. LocoMotion was a county-subsidized bus service. While the wheelchair was being loaded onto the transportation van by a mechanical lift, she found that she had been left alone and unattended. Walker released…
On June 4, 2008, 70-year-old Edward Wasik, a retired school teacher, was a customer at Ridgeway Chevrolet, an automobile dealer located in Lansing, Ill. Wasik was walking behind the service bays in the service department when he was struck by a car backing out of the service bay. The car…
On Nov. 11, 2007, Daniel Heimbrodt was driving eastbound on Highway C in Burlington, Wis., when his car collided with the vehicle operated by Robert Jones, which was traveling northbound on Highway U. Jones had a stop sign at the intersection while Heimbrodt did not. Jones erroneously believed that Heimbrodt…
Patricia DeBoo, 61, was shopping at Menard’s when she was struck in the head by a bathroom vanity that was inadvertently pushed off a high shelf by a Menard’s employee. The worker was operating a forklift in an adjacent aisle and attempting to bring down some merchandise from the high…
On Feb. 27, 2008, Michelle Eells, 39, was driving eastbound on Route 38 toward DeKalb, Ill., when an oncoming westbound pickup truck driven by the defendant, Dustin Grinstead, crossed the centerline near Kishwaukee Community College and crashed into her vehicle. The eastbound vehicle driven by Wayne Domin, who was working…
James Fregeau was involved in two different and separate motor vehicle crashes. Both cases were consolidated for discovery and trial. The first crash took place on April 22, 2009 when a car driven by the defendant, Anthony Foster, rear-ended a vehicle, which then pushed into Fregeau’s car, injuring him. The…
Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson was injured in 2012 at the Seminole Indian Tribe Casino when he fell from the back of its stage at the Tribe’s South Florida casino. Robinson was appearing at a fundraiser for the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital. When Robinson, 76, was on the…
James R. Fregeau was involved in two separate rear-end motor vehicle crashes within 20 months. In both cases his car was rear-ended by another vehicle. Fregeau filed two separate lawsuits that later were consolidated for discovery and trial. The first crash took place on April 22, 2009 when the car…