Woman Crashed Into Back of Parked UPS Truck, So Her Father’s Suing UPS

SHOREWOOD, IL — The father of a now deceased Shorewood woman who pleaded guilty to crashing into the back of a parked United Parcel Service truck is now suing United Parcel Service.

John Burchardt, the father of Johanna Burchardt, sued UPS in Will County court this week.

Johanna Burchardt crashed her Isuzu Trooper into the back of a UPS truck parked on Route 59 in Shorewood in December 2014, according to the lawsuit.

In May, 2015, on the advice of her attorney, Johanna Burchardt pleaded guilty to failure to reduce speed, “admitting fault for hitting (the UPS) brown van,” the lawsuit said, “even though the facts of the case might have resulted in the rare legal result of the rear-ending party being innocent.”

The UPS truck was illegally parked, according to the lawsuit, and was very dirty and difficult to see. Also, the suit said, the lack of skid marks indicated Johanna Burchardt “didn’t make an effort to avoid the illegally parked vehicle because she couldn’t see it.”

Hannah Burchardt died in October 2015, according to her obituary. She was 23.

image via Patch archive