Fatal Wreck On Houbolt Road Involving Semi-Trailer Leaves City Of Joliet Facing Lawsuit

JOLIET, IL — Four months after a deadly overnight crash happened along Houbolt Road and Route 6, the city of Joliet finds itself as the defendant in a civil lawsuit filed by the HMD Trucking company. The lawsuit names Joliet and the state of Illinois as defendants.

According to the litigation, HMD is a trucking company involved in over-the-road transportation of goods across the nation. Around 2:45 a.m. on Feb. 21, HMD driver Bronislavas Ilevicius was driving north on Houbolt Road crossing the intersection of Route 6/Channahon Road with a green light when his semi-trailer was hit by a car driven by Nicholas Allen running a red light.

The Joliet Police Department responded to the crash, and first responders found that Jayden Norris, a passenger in Allen's car, was dead at the scene. The city of Joliet, the lawsuit noted, have placed a hold on the tractor-trailer driven by Ilevicius.

"Upon further inquiry, HMD discovered that Joliet was holding HMD's truck at the direction of the Will County State's Attorney's Office," the lawsuit revealed.

Back on Feb. 24, Illinois State Police Trooper Lindroth performed an inspection on HMD's truck and on April 8, HMD's defense counsel, in a pending wrongful death case, performed its own independent inspection of the HMD truck.

The lawsuit contends that "HMD has a clear legal right to possession of its tractor-trailer, which Joliet and the State are wrongfully detaining without statutory basis. HMD faces the loss of use of its tractor-trailer from Joliet's continued detention of HMD's truck, including the degradation of the damaged semi-trailer, which cannot be repaired."

The lawsuit reminds Will County's judicial system that two inspections of HMD's truck have already been done, by Illinois State Police and HMD's defense counsel.

According to the filing by attorney Tudor Taut of the Des Plaines law firm Chepov and Scott, "The continued detention of HMD's truck can no longer be justified given the existence of inspection reports available, which the state can reference in their continued investigation. HMD requests that this court issue a temporary restraining order, as HMD has no practical means to retrieve its tractor-trailer without judicial intervention."