Jones v. Auto Warehousing Co.
2025 IL App (1st) 230777-U
| Ill. App. Ct. | 2025Background
- Auto Warehousing Company (AWC) stored thousands of vehicles (including Ford vehicles) at Lot 7 in Chicago; as a standard industry practice, keys were left in each vehicle on the lot to expedite movement.
- Lot 7 was enclosed with fencing, concrete barriers, a security checkpoint, and cameras, but keys remained inside the cars due to logistical necessity.
- In April 2017, multiple vehicles were stolen from Lot 7 over two consecutive nights; one such stolen car, a Ford Explorer, was subsequently involved in a deadly police chase after being seen fleeing a reported shooting.
- Four days after the Explorer’s theft, it collided with the decedent Tevin Jones-Rogers’ car after being driven recklessly during a police chase, resulting in his death.
- Tammi Jones (Tevin’s mother and estate administrator) sued AWC and Ford, alleging their negligence in storing vehicles with keys and providing inadequate security proximately caused the death.
- The trial court granted summary judgment for the defendants, finding neither duty nor proximate cause established; plaintiff appealed.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proximate cause: Is leaving keys in cars | Defendants' negligence led to theft/reckless chase | Intervening acts (theft, reckless fleeing) too remote | No proximate cause as a matter of law |
| Duty: Did defendants owe decedent a duty? | Reasonably foreseeable harm from theft practices | No special duty to third parties harmed off-lot | Court did not reach this issue |
| Foreseeability of subsequent harm | Subsequent dangerous use by thieves foreseeable | Crash was not foreseeable—too attenuated in time/place | Harm not foreseeable; no liability |
| Adequacy of security practices | Security practices were inadequate, enabling theft | Industry standard; rare thefts, security reasonable | Not dispositive due to lack of proximate cause |
Key Cases Cited
- Adams v. Northern Illinois Gas Co., 211 Ill. 2d 32 (Standards for summary judgment—no genuine issue of material fact)
- Springfield Bank v. Galman, 188 Ill. 2d 252 (Proximate cause analysis—cause-in-fact and legal cause framework)
- Simmons v. Garces, 198 Ill. 2d 541 (Legal cause centers on foreseeability of harm)
- City of Chicago v. Beretta U.S.A. Corp., 213 Ill. 2d 351 (Foreseeability as key to legal causation)
- Ney v. Yellow Cab Co., 2 Ill. 2d 74 (Liability for negligently secured vehicle where harm closely follows theft)
- Hallmark Insurance Co. v. Chicago Transit Authority, 179 Ill. App. 3d 260 (Proximate cause in repeated instances of vehicular thefts and resulting harm)