Woman Disputes Hinsdale's Version Of 2022 Crash

HINSDALE, IL – A Western Springs resident on Tuesday took issue with Hinsdale's account of a crash that involved her car two years ago outside Fuller's Car Wash, 102 Chicago Ave.

Last month, Village President Tom Cauley detailed the results of the village's review of the crashes related to Fuller's Car Wash dating back to 2007.

This was in light of last July's death of 14-year-old Hinsdale resident Sean Patrick Richards, who was walking on the sidewalk in front of Fuller's when an employee struck him with a car. The employee ended up crashing into Fontano's Subs across the street, injuring three people.

A crash occurred a year earlier at Fuller's, about 2:30 p.m. May 17, 2022. According to the village's account, an unoccupied Honda exited the car wash and struck an unoccupied Jeep that was in front of the Honda. Then the Jeep rolled into the Western Springs woman's Lexus parked on Lincoln Street.

The village described the weather as rainy and the car wash as closed. (Weather records show the Chicago area had zero precipitation that day.)

"There was minor damage to the Lexus parked on Lincoln," the village's report said.

At Tuesday's Village Board meeting, Western Springs resident Lauri Aldrich, who owned the Lexus, gave a different account. She said the day was sunny and the car wash was open, with customers both inside and outside.

The Honda was in drive, while the Jeep was in neutral, Aldrich said. That confirms the crash was caused by a Fuller's employee's negligence, she said.

"You described the damage as minor or minimal in each of the accidents prior to the one that killed Sean," Aldrich said. "I had around $10,000 worth of damage. I did not have the use of my car for three months, and it had to be sent to a specialist because of the force of the impact."

Aldrich also viewed the crash in light of what could have happened.

"Had my car not been parked there, those two cars could have run over the sidewalk and crashed into Fontano's, severely killing or injuring someone," Aldrich said.

She added, "If I had left Fontano's eight seconds earlier, I would have been standing exactly at the point of impact and I would have been crushed pretty much from my ribs to my knees."

Also at Tuesday's meeting, Brian Richards, father of Sean Richards, said the police's crash history did not include one that occurred in October 2007. He said he spoke with a Western Springs woman whose car was hit.

"There is no police report for this, which is a different issue," Brian Richards said.

He said an employee entered the woman's car and floored the accelerator, causing the car to fly out of the wash, cross the sidewalk and strike a big pickup truck in front of Fontano's Subs.

Fuller's, Richards said, paid the woman more than the cash value of her Jeep.

"That was the first of three times those same facts have happened," Richards said. "There was no citation or fine assessed against Fuller's because of this threat to public safety."

Village officials did not respond specifically to information on the two crashes.

During the meeting, Cauley had an exchange with Richards about how the family had the power to close the car wash.