BYRBE v. City of Chicago

576 N.E.2d 19, 215 Ill. App. 3d 698, 159 Ill. Dec. 350, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 690
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMay 2, 1991
Docket1-89-0967
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 576 N.E.2d 19 (BYRBE v. City of Chicago) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
BYRBE v. City of Chicago, 576 N.E.2d 19, 215 Ill. App. 3d 698, 159 Ill. Dec. 350, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 690 (Ill. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

JUSTICE JOHNSON

delivered the opinion of the court:

This matter comes before this court on appeal from the circuit court of Cook County. Plaintiff, Sheila Byrne, brought an action in the circuit court of Cook County to recover damages from defendant, the City of Chicago, occasioned by defendant’s tow and subsequent destruction of plaintiff’s automobile and its contents. After a jury trial, the trial judge directed a verdict in favor of defendant. Plaintiff prays for a reversal of the motion court’s decision.

On appeal, the following issues are presented for review: (1) whether plaintiff has provided an adequate record for this court to review the instant case; (2) whether the motion court erred when it granted defendant’s motion to dismiss the second count of plaintiff’s second amended complaint which alleged violations of sections 4 — 205 and 4 — 209 of the Illinois Vehicle Code (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 951/2, pars. 4 — 205, 4 — 209); and (3) whether the motion court erred when it granted defendant’s motion to dismiss the portion of the third count of plaintiff’s second amended complaint which alleged negligence in the performance of duties required by the Vehicle Code (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 951/2, par. 1 — 101 et seq.), and which plaintiff alleges was not subject to sections 2 — 106, 2 — 107, 2 — 109, 2 — 202, and 2 — 210 of the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act (hereinafter Tort Immunity Act) (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 85, pars. 2— 106, 2-107, 2-109, 2-202, 2-210).

We affirm.

Background

Plaintiff was the owner of a 1980, four-door, burgundy and cream-colored Chevrolet Chevette (hereinafter automobile or vehicle). Plaintiff’s mother, Ms. Barbara Byrne, was the original owner of the vehicle; she subsequently transferred title in the automobile to plaintiff. At the time of the transfer of title, Barbara Byrne obtained a $3,000 lien on the automobile. At the time of the accident, the vehicle’s certificate of title showed that Sheila Byrne was the owner of the vehicle, and that her mother was the lienholder. When the automobile was purchased, plaintiff resided with her mother. However, at the time this incident occurred, she no longer resided with her mother, and she failed to update her address on the certificate of title.

On February 11, 1988, at approximately 8:30 p.m., plaintiff parked her automobile on the south side of Hawthorne Street in Chicago, Illinois. The parked car was located in front of snowbanks and approximately 56 feet from the intersection of Hawthorne Street and North Lake Shore Drive. Plaintiff’s automobile was towed from this location by defendant, its employees, or its agents sometime after 9 p.m., and before 7:30 a.m. the next day. Thereafter and until the time of its destruction, plaintiff’s automobile was held by defendant, its employees, or its agents at automobile pound No. 6. Plaintiff called pound No. 6 and was told that she would have to pay $50 in order to retrieve her vehicle, in addition to $5 for each subsequent day that the vehicle remained in the pound. Defendant or its agents refused to return the vehicle despite plaintiff’s numerous demands and requests that they do so.

The contents of the vehicle included several books, a leather briefcase, an antique doll, a leather portfolio, original copies of several unpublished training manuals written by plaintiff, plaintiff’s business records, and various personal items, all of which were seized and detained by defendant, its employees, or its agents. Plaintiff alleged that these items were worth at least $4,915. Defendant, its employees, or its agents refused to return these items unless plaintiff paid the $50 fee (and any amount due for the additional days which the vehicle remained in the pound) despite plaintiff’s demands and requests.

On February 15, 1988, defendant mailed a towing notice to Barbara Byrne’s residence. The notice stated that plaintiff’s vehicle was located at pound No. 6 and would cost approximately $50 to retrieve. The notice also stated that the automobile would be disposed of in 15 days if plaintiff failed to retrieve it. Plaintiff claimed that she had no knowledge of the notice which her mother received.

Plaintiff continued to call the pound to inquire about her automobile, but she never inquired about whether it would be destroyed. Plaintiff alleges that during a telephone conversation with a police officer, the officer endorsed her effort to recover the vehicle without “putting out $50.” Plaintiff alleged that the officer urged her to wait for a court date. In addition, plaintiff stated in her deposition that she had no means of getting to the pound.

On or before March 7, 1988, plaintiff’s automobile and all of its contents were transferred from pound No. 6 to Pielot Brothers Scrap and Iron, in Summit, Illinois, where the automobile, along with all of its contents, was destroyed by “shredding.”

On May 31, 1988, plaintiff filed a three-count complaint against defendant for conversion, statutory violations, and negligence. Plaintiff alleged that defendant negligently performed the following acts which it was required to perform by law:

“k) Failed to provide the plaintiff with adequate means by which to secure return of her automobile;
l) Failed to make an adequate investigation of the records of the Secretary of State or any other relevant public agency in order to determine the plaintiff’s correct address for purposes of sending out notice of the tow, storage and potential destruction of plaintiff’s automobile;
m) Failed to mail any notice that the plaintiff’s automobile had been towed, stored, or would be destroyed to plaintiff’s correct address, despite the fact that the plaintiff had prior to the date of the tow updated her registration and license to reflect her new address with the Secretary of State;
n) Failed to make an adequate investigation of the records of the Secretary of State in order to determine that there was a registered lien on the automobile;
o) Failed to send out any notice to the registered lienholder of the tow, storage or potential destruction of the vehicle;
p) Failed to give the plaintiff adequate notice that the automobile would be destroyed;
q) Failed to give the plaintiff adequate notice of what actions she could take to prevent her automobile from being destroyed; [and]
r) Failed to make available to the plaintiff an adequate means to insure that she would be able to obtain a hearing to determine the legality of the tow.”

In count III of the complaint, plaintiff alleged that defendant performed the following acts of negligence:

“b) Allowed itself or one of its employees or agents to tow plaintiff’s automobile from the place where it was legally parked;

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Bluebook (online)
576 N.E.2d 19, 215 Ill. App. 3d 698, 159 Ill. Dec. 350, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 690, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/byrbe-v-city-of-chicago-illappct-1991.