The family of a toddler who was killed when a woman slammed her car into a suburban Portillo’s restaurant filed a lawsuit alongside numerous other injured patrons for physical and emotional damages, a law firm announced Tuesday.
“While authorities have described the incident as a ‘tragic accident,’ GWC’s early investigation reveals that the crash was entirely foreseeable and preventable,” the law firm representing the injured patrons, GWC Injury Lawyers LLC, said in a statement.
The lawsuit centers on a 2-year-old boy who was killed and nine others who were injured after a 50-year-old woman drove her car into a busy suburban Portillo’s restaurant on July 30.
Photos and video from the scene show a gold-colored sedan inside the restaurant past the doors of the front entrance, surrounded by shattered glass, debris and crushed tables and chairs. Directly in front of of the crash, a parking lot could be seen with empty parking spaces.
“The front entrance of the Portillo’s restaurant and parking lot are designed in such a manner that this type of tragic event seems almost inevitable,” the law firm said in a statement.
The “defective conditions” of nose-in parking directly in front of the glass entryway, absent of concrete parking bumpers or safety bollards, “coupled with tables situated right in front of the revolving door, created a highly dangerous condition that exposed diners and pedestrians,” the law firm said in the statement.
Thirteen people who were injured survived the incident, police said, all of whom were inside the restaurant at the time. Eight people, including the driver, were transported to nearby hospitals.
As the firm said it is only currently representing 10 of the patrons from the crash (including the family of the toddler who was killed), some of the people who were injured are not involved in the lawsuit.
“Our goal is now to ensure that no other family has to endure the tragic loss and suffering that this family is currently going through right now and will go through forever,” said Louis C. Cairo, managing partner at GWC Injury Lawyers, in a statement.
GWC calls for “immediate safety action and accountability” and said the patrons they represent suffered “physical and emotional damages as a result of the crash.”
The law firm’s statement also points out that Portillo’s has concrete parking bumpers along the side of the building where no glass entryways are located, and there are two safety bollards in the parking lot to prevent damage to a light pole.
“So, the company chose to protect the side of its building and a light pole, yet it continues to ignore the health and well-being of patrons dining in their restaurant through its decisions to carelessly design its parking lot and entranceway,” the law firm claims in the statement, adding that other large businesses in the immediate area have installed protective bollards in front of their glass entrances.
“Our clients want justice, not just in the courtroom, but in policy and practice,” said Cairo. “This tragedy did not have to happen. And with real accountability, this will not happen again. We need to make sure this beautiful child’s death is not completely in vain.”
In the days following the crash, a makeshift memorial grew outside the restaurant, with dozens of toys left behind for a life taken too soon. Dozens of neighbors showed love and support for the boy’s grieving family at a village board meeting earlier this month.
Village President Ryan Kauffman issued a statement following the crash, saying the village was reviewing its safety ordinances and protocols “to identify what more can be done to help prevent such tragedies in the future.”
“Oswego has required bollards for all commercial outdoor dining areas for decades, but we know that we must continue to evaluate and strengthen protections in public spaces,” the statement added. “We are also looking into how other communities have responded to similar incidents, and we are actively exploring additional safety measures. Nothing is off the table when it comes to protecting lives.”
Kauffman said the village owes it “to the families who are hurting—and to everyone who lives, works or visits here—to take a hard look at how we can improve public safety.”
GWC’s statement referenced Kauffman’s expression of intent to review safety protocols, saying the firm “supports that mission and calls on both public officials and private property owners to implement the necessary safety measures […] to prevent future loss of life.”
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