Aurora man’s family sues after death at Aldi center

The family of a 53-year-old Aurora man who was killed Christmas Eve after being run over by a truck at a Batavia food distribution center is suing the truck driver and truck company for negligence and wrongful death.

Raymond Vanpelt died from injuries after being injured at 10:24 a.m. Dec. 24 at the Aldi distribution center, 1200 N. Kirk Road, on the campus of the company’s United States headquarters.

Vanpelt’s widow and son are suing Penske Truck Leasing Co. and employee Patrick Karns.

The suit charges Karns, and by extension Penske, with negligence and says the truck came in to “violent contact” with Vanpelt, who later died at Delnor Hospital in Geneva.

At the time, Batavia police said the driver of a semi was backing up to a trailer to move it elsewhere in the parking lot.

Karns, 46, has not been charged with any criminal wrongdoing. A phone message left at his Sandwich home was not immediately returned.

A message left at the Penske Corporate headquarters was not immediately returned.

Despite the injuries occurring on Aldi’s land, the company is not a defendant in the suit.

An assistant for Vanpelt’s attorney, John Power, deferred questions to the law firm’s spokeswoman, who did not return a message.

An inquest date for Vanpelt’s death has not been set, according to the Kane County Coroner’s Office.

A judge last week did grant Powers’ motion to preserve repair records and GPS data from the truck and to prevent it from being moved off the property in Batavia, according to court records.

Both sides are due in Kane County court in Geneva on March 31. The suit seeks a minimum of $50,000.