Lake County, Gurnee sued over car seizure policy

The Lake County sheriff's office is unconstitutionally seizing cars and then refusing to return them or hold a hearing on the seizure for months, a new lawsuit filed Tuesday claims.

Javier Arias-Cruz, a Lake County resident, was stopped in Gurnee July 24 and given a ticket for driving on a suspended or revoked license, according to the suit filed by attorney Thomas Peters, who said Arias-Cruz was not charged with anything else. As of Wednesday, Arias-Cruz still hadn't been given his car back, nor was he given a hearing or the opportunity to post bond for the return of his car, the suit says.

While seizure of vehicles for certain offenses is legal under an Illinois statute, the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment prohibits any state from "depriv(ing) any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." Peters argues that means holding a hearing sooner rather than later on whether seizure of the car is legal.

"The point of the case is to correct the system, which unjustly detains that family car without any judicial oversight," said Peters.

Although he doesn't know what Lake County's storage fees are, in some jurisdictions, the storage costs can quickly add up to more than the car's value, Peters said. While the car sits impounded, he said, working class and poor families often lose jobs or miss doctors appointments, he said.

"If you are of modest income, you're screwed," said Peters.

The Lake County sheriff's office referred calls on the matter to the state's attorney's office, which said it had not yet seen the suit and so could not comment. Neither could the Gurnee police department.

Peters said he has filed similar suits in other collar counties, and recently won an appellate ruling in January before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Smith v. Chicago.

In that case, the court wrote that "the importance of an automobile as a mode of transportation and, for some people, a means to earn a living [is an] important factor."

Noting that Florida requires a hearing within 15 days of a seizure, the court ordered the city of Chicago to institute some sort of hearing system.

"We ... understand that the preforfeiture hearing would impose some administrative burdens on (Chicago). However, due process always imposes some burden on a governing body," the court wrote.