Corboy & Demetrio Files Lawsuit on Behalf of Toll Worker Killed While Helping Trucker on I-88

The family of Vincenzo Petrella, the Illinois Tollway worker killed as he was helping a trucker on I-88, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit. The Chicago law firm of Corboy & Demetrio is representing the Petrella family.

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Corboy & Demetrio

Mar 10, 2014, 05:39 ET

CHICAGO, March 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Corboy & Demetrio filed a lawsuit today on behalf of the family of Vincenzo Petrella, the 39-year-old Illinois Tollway worker who was killed while helping a trucker with a disabled semi-trailer on Interstate 88 near Aurora on Jan. 27, 2014.

Petrella, known as "Enzo" by friends and family, left behind a four-year-old son, seven-year-old daughter, and his wife, Sandra, who filed the wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of her deceased husband's estate.

The lawsuit names as a defendant, Renato Velasquez, the commercial truck driver who plowed into the vehicles which caused a fiery chain-reaction crash that caused Petrella's death, as well as DND International, the Illinois trucking company that employed Velasquez.

Shortly after the crash, DuPage County prosecutors said evidence would show Velasquez was in violation of several federal safety regulations, including those that cap the number of consecutive hours a truck driver can operate a vehicle.

"Enzo was well-loved by co-workers, family and friends, and now his children have to grow up without their father. This profound loss for the Petrella family could and should have been prevented," said Corboy & Demetrio attorney Matthew T. Jenkins, who along with the firm's founder, Thomas A. Demetrio, represents the Petrella's estate.

Petrella was parked behind the disabled truck and had turned on his emergency lights, according to the complaint filed in Cook County Circuit Court. An Illinois state trooper, who was injured in the crash, had parked a police car directly behind Petrella's car in the far right lane, and had also activated his emergency lights.

Demetrio stated: "These semi-tractor trailer trucks being operated by sleepy drivers turn into missiles on our highways and are just as dangerous as a loaded gun. It is our hope that over-the-road truck drivers and their employers take very good note of this lawsuit and the reasons for it and follow the federal guidelines scrupulously; and, thus, avoid sleep deprivation and the careless loss of life that this wonderful family is going to have to live with forever. "

Case#: 2014L002846; Sandra Petrella, Administrator of the Estate of Vincenzo Petrella, v. DND International, Inc. and Renato Velasquez, Cook Co. Circuit Court No. Filed on 3-10-14.

About Corboy & Demetrio
Corboy & Demetrio is one of the nation's premier law firms. To contact Tom Demetrio, Matt Jenkins or another Chicago personal injury lawyer at our firm, call 312-346-3191 or toll free at 800-356-3191. We are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For more information about our law firm, go to corboydemetrio.com.

SOURCE Corboy & Demetrio