$24 million award upheld in fatal ’04 crash

By Bill Bird wbird@stmedianetwork.com Apr 5, 2011

OTTAWA — A near-$24 million wrongful death and personal injury award has been upheld, almost seven years to the day after a 10-vehicle traffic crash on Interstate 55 that killed two men from Naperville and Seneca and permanently injured a man from Aurora.

A 3rd District Illinois Appellate Court panel on Wednesday upheld the record verdict rendered by a jury in Will County Circuit Court. It held three defendants liable for $23.75 million in the April 1, 2004, crash that killed Joseph G. Sperl of Naperville and Thomas Sanders of Seneca, and injured Aurora resident William Taluc.

Authorities in 2004 said a northbound, 40-ton tractor-trailer hauling a full load of potatoes slammed into three cars near I-55’s Route 30 exit ramp in Plainfield Township. Traffic had slowed there due to an earlier crash on the interstate near Weber Road.

via $24 million award upheld in fatal ’04 crash – Herald News.