Lawsuit Filed In Death Of Woman In Glenview Crash
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The family of a woman killed in a crash involving a Skokie village garbage truck has filed a wrongful death suit against the village -- and more defendants are likely.
Korean immigrant Gwi Rye Kim was one of three people who died when the truck hit a 2006 Kia broadside, flipped it over, and came to rest atop of the car, rupturing its gas tank and causing a fire that incinerated the car.
Lawsuit Filed In Death Of Woman In Glenview Crash
The truck was traveling north on Harlem Avenue at Harrison Street in Glenview at the time, and Skokie village officials have maintained steadfastly that the truck had the right of way, and that the car, driven by 56-year-old Won Suk Lim, of Chicago, blew through a stop sign.
But Attorney Thomas Prindable alleges in the suit that the truck was speeding, and was not being driven with due care. But he said to date, the village of Glenview has refused to provide him with a police report or access to the vehicles.
He said he cannot even name the driver of the garbage truck. He said once he knows the driver's identity, he intends to add the driver and Lim's estate to the suit.
The suit states that the truck was fully loaded and headed to a transfer station at the time of the accident. Autopsies blamed the deaths of Kim, Lim and Lim's wife on three causes -- blunt force trauma, thermal injuries and carbon monoxide poisoning.
Prindable said the truck has a computer module that can tell how fast the truck was moving before the accident, at what point the brakes were applied and how long they were applied before the accident.
No citations or charges have been filed in connection with the Oct. 15 crash, which Glenview police said remains under investigation.
