A family in Illinois is suing Portillo’s for more than $100,000 after a tragic crash killed their 2-year-old son when a car plowed through the front door of the popular restaurant during a family lunch.
The heartbreaking incident happened on July 30 at a Portillo’s location in Oswego, Illinois. According to police, 2-year-old Finnegan McKee was sitting at a table near the entrance with his parents, Christina and Schyler McKee, along with other family members, when a 50-year-old woman allegedly hopped a curb and slammed her car into the restaurant.
“They’re sitting at one of the tables closest to the entrance, they’re having a great time at 2 o’clock in the afternoon,” attorney Louis A. Cairo told Law&Crime after filing the lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court. “The unthinkable happens as a car comes flying through the front door.”
Police believe the crash was accidental, but the McKee family’s lawsuit claims Portillo’s is responsible for creating what they call an “unreasonably dangerous” design that left diners vulnerable.
The complaint alleges that the restaurant’s parking lot was configured so vehicles parked directly in front of the entrance with no safety barriers in place — such as bollards, concrete blocks, or fencing — to stop cars from accidentally driving onto the sidewalk and into the storefront.
“Portillo’s situated its tables so as to locate its seated diners within feet of the glass entrance doors without any physical barriers between them and head-in parking spaces,” the lawsuit states.
At an emotional press conference on Aug. 22, Finnegan’s mother, Christina, called her son “perfect” and “the smartest little 2-year-old,” struggling to put her grief into words. “You don’t go out somewhere expecting to not come home with your 2-year-old,” she said. “Nobody should have to go through that.”
The McKee family hopes their lawsuit will lead to greater safety requirements at restaurants and other establishments where cars park close to entrances.
“Some of the potential good that can come of this would be enacting an ordinance or legislation,” Cairo said. “If you have a parking lot attached to an establishment, there better be barriers — bollards, concrete blocks — so there’s not another family enjoying lunch one moment and facing tragedy the next.”
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Author: thedailycrime1
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