Hinsdale Pursues Fuller's Car Wash Debt

HINSDALE, IL – Hinsdale is in a dispute with Fuller's Car Wash over what the business owes to a village engineer who oversaw the construction of bollards.

In its bankruptcy filing, Fuller's Car Wash, 102 Chicago Ave., listed its unknown debt with the village as disputed.

On July 17, 2023, Sean Patrick Richards, a Hinsdale 14-year-old, was walking on the sidewalk in front of Fuller's on Chicago Avenue when an employee driving a car hit him, crossed the street and crashed into Fontano's restaurant, injuring customers. The boy died days later.

At Tuesday's Village Board meeting, his mother, Kristine Richards, said the village agreed to hire an engineer to make sure the bollards at Fuller's were strong enough to protect the public.

The ones that the business put up shortly after the teen's death were not enough to withstand the impact of cars, engineers concluded.

Richards said Fuller's agreed to reimburse the village for the costs.

"The installation of safety measures at a private business should not be funded by our tax dollars," Richards said. "The fact that this debt is disputed by Mr. (Doug) Fuller is extremely frustrating."

She praised Village Manager Kathleen Gargano and the village staff for pursuing the debt. She asked whether the board could do anything to ensure the debt was collected.

In response, Village President Tom Cauley said Hinsdale has lawyers who help collect money owed to the village.

Last week, Patch submitted a public records request with the village for documents on the disputed debt.

In January, Fuller's filed for bankruptcy days before its owners were set to appear at depositions in a lawsuit filed by the Richards family.

According to the filing, the business owns 18 cars, many of them luxury models, including a Mercedes and a Cadillac Escalade.

The information showed that Fuller's owes a total of $452,000 for 14 of the cars.

For tax and bankruptcy purposes, those cars must be for business, not personal use.

In the 13 months before January's bankruptcy filing, the five co-owners received nearly $1.2 million in compensation and dividends from the Hinsdale business. The co-owners are Doug Fuller, Susan Groenwold, Ethan Fuller, Colin Fuller and Paula Fuller.

Fuller's lawyer has not returned messages for comment.