(Tampa Free Press)—A family-owned Midwest distributor has filed a federal lawsuit against the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office and the Winnebago County State’s Attorney, alleging the county illegally seized and has indefinitely held its delivery truck for 15 months after a fatal accident for which the company bears no responsibility.
The Liberty Justice Center filed the lawsuit on April 14 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on behalf of First Supply, LLC, a plumbing and HVAC distributor. The suit argues that the seizure and continued retention of the truck violate First Supply’s Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures and its right to due process.
The incident dates back to January 2024, when a First Supply delivery truck, lawfully stopped at a red light, was struck by a car allegedly driven by an intoxicated individual who ran the light. The collision tragically resulted in the death of the car driver’s passenger.
According to the lawsuit, First Supply was entirely uninvolved in causing the accident. However, the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office seized the company’s truck from the scene as evidence without obtaining a warrant and, the suit alleges, without any urgent circumstances justifying a warrantless seizure.
Over the following months, First Supply states it cooperated fully with the investigation. By March 2024, a sergeant reportedly informed the company that the Sheriff’s Office was “done with the truck” and would initiate its release through the State’s Attorney’s Office. Despite this assurance, the truck remained impounded.
Further complicating matters, the State’s Attorney’s Office dismissed the initial traffic case against the driver in July 2024 but allegedly failed to inform First Supply or return the vehicle. More than two months later, in October 2024, the office filed a new criminal felony case against the driver. To date, no trial date has been set, and the truck remains in the county’s possession.
Throughout the 15-month period, the lawsuit contends, neither the Sheriff’s Office nor the State’s Attorney’s Office has provided First Supply with any formal process, procedure, or timeline for the truck’s return.
The impoundment has created significant financial hardship for First Supply. The company has been forced to continue making payments on the unusable truck while also leasing a replacement vehicle, incurring costs of thousands of dollars per month. Furthermore, the truck has been sitting in an open-air impound lot, leading to deterioration and anticipated repair costs upon its eventual return.
“The government cannot take your property without a warrant or warrant exception—let alone indefinitely and without giving you any way to get it back—just because you were an innocent bystander to someone else’s alleged crime,” stated Loren Seehase, Senior Counsel at the Liberty Justice Center. “We look forward to vindicating the Fourth Amendment rights of First Supply and all innocent crime victims and bystanders.”
Brittney Cornillaud, Corporate Counsel for First Supply, expressed the company’s frustration. “It was hard enough to have our delivery driver be involved in a fatal car accident,” she said. “But to indefinitely lose our truck to impoundment hampers our ability to make a profit and pay our employees… To add insult to injury, we’ve spent hours trying to retrieve our property only to be passed from person to person at the State’s Attorney’s Office, ignored by the prosecutor, and offered no support.”
The lawsuit, First Supply v. Caruana, seeks the immediate return of the truck and likely damages for the alleged constitutional violations and financial losses incurred.