Lawsuit claims Freeport policy led to illegal seizure of vehicles, village reponds

The Village of Freeport has been accused in a federal class action lawsuit of illegally seizing thousands of vehicles since 2016.

The lawsuit, which has over 5,000 plaintiffs, was initiated by attorney Andrew Campanelli, claims that the village occasionally illegally sold the vehicles taken. Campanelli said that there are over 200 incidents of that happening.

The suit also alleges that the village received "kickbacks" from towing companies amounting to over $934,000. 

According to Campanelli, Freeport uses a network of fixed license plate readers — nicknamed the “Ring of Steel”— to automatically flag cars entering the village that have either expired registrations or three or more outstanding parking summonses.

Once flagged, village police officers are allegedly instructed to seize the vehicles without a warrant, and owners are given 10 days to pay or risk losing their car permanently.

"You cannot seize a car without a warrant or an exception to the warrant requirement," Campanelli said. "And unpaid parking tickets or your registration being expired are not exceptions."

"They're going to lose this case," he added. "No question about it." 

The village strongly denies the accusation.

"The Village of Freeport unequivocally rejects the baseless allegations made in the recent federal lawsuit," said village attorney Howard Colton in a statement. "At no point has the Village engaged in any 'seizure-for-profit' or 'kickback schemes' and such claims are outright false and without merit.

Colton went on to state that the village will vigorously defend against this action and move for sanctions.

"When a vehicle is impounded," Colton told the Herald, "we notify the owner, the lien holder, anyone that has an interest in the vehicle: you have the right to have a hearing.
It's a post-deprivation hearing, which is what the law provides." 

A post-deprivation hearing occurs after a vehicle is taken by a municipality.

"This attorney is not unknown to us," added Colton. "He has a habit of doing this in other municipalities."