$50K Bonuses, Luxury Cars At Hinsdale Car Wash Before Bankruptcy

HINSDALE, IL – Fuller's Car Wash and Service Center in Hinsdale, where a pedestrian was killed in 2023, did not appear to be headed toward bankruptcy before it filed for such protection in January – if court records are any indication.

Recently, the Hinsdale business released financial information as part of its bankruptcy filing.

According to the filing, the business owned 18 cars, many of them luxury models, including a Mercedes and a Cadillac Escalade.

The information showed that Fuller's owes a total of $452,000 for 14 of the cars.

For tax and bankruptcy purposes, those cars must be for business, not personal use.

The Fuller's name is on 19 car washes in the Chicago area, but the bankruptcy documents indicate the filing is just for the car wash and service center in Hinsdale.

In the 13 months before January's bankruptcy filing, the five co-owners received nearly $1.2 million in compensation and dividends from the Hinsdale business. The co-owners are Doug Fuller, Susan Groenwold, Ethan Fuller, Colin Fuller and Paula Fuller.

In what appeared to be holiday bonuses, co-owners Doug Fuller and Susan Groenwold each received $51,402 on Dec. 24, less than a month before the bankruptcy filing. This money was outside their regular payment cycle.

In the two twice-a-month cycles before the filing, the same co-owners increased their regular compensation to $8,950, from $5,293.

The last dividends were in July.

Fuller's is represented by attorney David Welch of Chicago's Burke, Warren, MacKay & Serritella law firm. He did not return messages for comment this week.

The car wash and service center are across from each other on Chicago Avenue in downtown Hinsdale.

On July 17, 2023, Sean Patrick Richards, a Hinsdale 14-year-old, was walking on the sidewalk in front of Fuller's on Chicago Avenue when an employee driving a car hit him, crossed the street and crashed into Fontano's restaurant, injuring customers. The boy died days later.

In an interview in January, the boy's father, Brian Richards, said the bankruptcy filing postponed everything in the lawsuit that he and his wife, Kristine Richards, filed against Fuller's and the then-employee who struck his son.

He said the 16-year-old employee's deposition was set for two days after the bankruptcy filing, while Doug Fuller and Susan Groenewold were to be deposed the following week.

"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," Brian Richards said in a statement at the time. "Why are they so afraid to tell the truth?"

He declined to comment this week.

Here is information on the cars in Fuller's debt list and the amount of debt for each (book cost in parentheses):

2020 Cadillac Escalade: $65,973 ($107,939)
2024 Audi Q5: $64,800 (uncertain)
2023 Chevrolet Silverado: $52,964 ($84,640)
2022 Chevrolet Silverado: $48,905 ($85,550)
2024 Audi Q5: $46,520 ($64,189)
2022 Ford F150 pickup: $44,810 ($83,227)
2022 Chevrolet Colorado pickup: $26,556 ($51,391)
2022 Chevrolet Colorado pickup: $26,325 ($50,391)
2021 Dodge Ram pickup: $19,970 ($56,100)
2020 Chevrolet Colorado pickup: $12,610 ($39,293)
2020 Chevrolet Colorado pickup: $12,592 ($40,850)
2020 Chevrolet Colorado pickup: $12,112 ($40,909)
2021 Lexus RX 350: $9,913 ($54,074)
2020 Audi Q5: $7,949 ($65,173)
TOTAL DEBT: $451,999