On April 14, 2025, the Liberty Justice Center initiated legal action against the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office and the Winnebago County State’s Attorney. The lawsuit alleges illegal seizure and prolonged retention of property belonging to First Supply, LLC, a plumbing and HVAC distributor, for over 15 months. The incident originated from an auto accident in January 2024 involving First Supply's delivery truck and a car run by an alleged drunk driver. The collision resulted in a fatality, but the truck, stopped lawfully, was seized without warrant by the Sheriff’s office.
First Supply has complied with the investigation since the accident. By March 2024, the Sheriff’s Office had communicated completion of their investigation, but failed to release the truck or inform First Supply, despite the State’s Attorney’s Office dismissing the traffic case in July 2024. Subsequently, a new felony case was lodged against the driver in October 2024, yet a trial date remains undeclared, and the truck remains unreturned.
First Supply has incurred costs for a substitute truck while the original vehicle, located in an impound lot, continues to deteriorate. The Liberty Justice Center contends this situation represents a violation of First Supply's constitutional rights, emphasizing the seizure contradicts Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure.
Loren Seehase, Senior Counsel at the Liberty Justice Center, stated, "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."
Brittney Cornillaud, Corporate Counsel, expressed frustration at the ongoing situation, "It was hard enough to have our delivery driver be involved in a fatal car accident. But to indefinitely lose our truck to impoundment hampers our ability to make a profit and pay our employees. We never could have expected that months would pass without getting it back, and now we pay thousands of dollars a month extra just to serve our customers. 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 case, First Supply v. Caruana, is now poised to be addressed by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Western Division.