Joliet's $12.5 Million Settlement: City Employee Responsible For Pedestrian Death's Later Had DUI Arrest

JOLIET, IL — At Monday night's meeting of the Joliet City Council, corporation counsel Todd Lenzie revealed that last week's out of court settlement is actually $12.5 million to bring an end to the wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Hector Castillo Esparza, the 75-year-old Joliet man who died after being hit by a city of Joliet truck on May 22, 2024.

According to Will County court filings, city employee Stephen "Kimo" Kimak was later given three traffic citations from the Joliet Police Department for his role in the fatal crash. In the end, Kimak pleaded guilty to two charges: disregarding a stop sign and failure to reduce speed. A third citation involving right away for a pedestrian in a crosswalk was dismissed under the 2025 plea. Kimek was given two years of court supervision and about $1,000 fines and court costs.

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Kimak's city of Joliet utilities department truck hit the 75-year-old Joliet pedestrian on May 22, 2024 shortly after 11 a.m. near Herkimer and Cass Streets. The Joliet senior citizen died at the hospital the following day.

Then last October, on Oct. 2, Kimak was arrested by the Mokena Police Department for driving under the influence of alcohol and transporting and carrying liquor as the driver. However, the DUI case never went to trial at the Will County Courthouse as Kimek died on Christmas Day at the age of 56. Kimak was also named as a co-defendant in Castillo's wrongful death lawsuit against the city.

"After graduating from Providence Catholic High School in 1987, he pursued his dreams at the University of St. Francis, where he continued his football career and earned a degree in communications, Class of 1991. Stephen "Kimo" was known for his kindness, humor, strong work ethic, and deep love for his family. He enjoyed fishing, sports, cooking, and golfing, and especially loved family vacations," Kimak's obituary noted.

On Tuesday, city of Joliet spokeswoman Sydney Thompson informed Joliet Patch that Kimek was no longer a city of Joliet employee at the time of his death and "as for his length of employment, that is a personnel matter and you would need to FOIA that information."

At Monday night's meeting, Joliet's Corporation Counsel Todd Lenzie explained to the Council how the actual total settlement amount involving the insurance companies is $12.5 million.

"It's Self Insurance Retention which that's set at a $1 million so if you want to think about the Self Insurance Retention it's like ... in the first layer of the insurance. we have multiple layers. Each one caries 1 to 5, 5 to 10, so on and so forth up to a certain amount. We have the first layer, 0 to 1. In layman's terms, it's like a deductible. You go to the doctor, and you're expected to pay a certain amount before the next layer will kick in. So, what this does, it funds our S.I.R. up to $1 million ... If we spend $200,000 on outside counsel, you deduct that from the $1 million amount we'd owe up to that point. We have a settlement in the Castillo case and what we need to do is fund our S.I.R. so the next layer of the insurance can kick in."

When Councilman Larry Hug asked for more details about the settlement, Lenzie responded he is in fact able to provide details on the settlement because it was approved by Will County's judicial system last week.

"So, the ultimate amount of it was $12,500,000 and that was a negotiation with all of the layers of the insurance company," Lenzie revealed. "And basically, our right, what we're funding, is 0 to 1 because after that, because the next layer is on the hook, they give the approval for it and you come to a negotiation and a meeting in the middle.

"I don't want to get into the nitty gritty of everything that went through," Lenzie explained. "It was a long, tiresome negotiations, and the demand was actually much higher than the amount we settled for. So, at this time, what I'm asking for is to just fund the S.I.R."

On Tuesday, Joliet Patch asked the city's public relations spokeswoman if it was accurate that Joliet taxpayers only are funding a portion, perhaps a small portion of the entire $12.5 million settlement amount?

"Yes, you are correct. The City's insurance policies require an SIR of $1M," Thompson responded.

Meanwhile, the Castillo family's lawyers, attorney Larry Rogers of the Chicago law firm Power Rogers, will now collect several million dollars for his legal practice as a result of his $12.5 million settlement with Joliet.