Disabled woman wins legal battle against Chicago after van wrongfully towed in 2018

A grandmother in a wheelchair who had her specialized van snatched right off the street by the city of Chicago finally won her legal fight seven years later when the city council approved her settlement today.

The city is about to write some big checks to thousands of vehicle owners who had their cars, vans, or trucks towed by the city without the proper warning — all because of one woman who took on city hall.

Andrea Santiago, 75, is finally getting justice years after her wheelchair accessible van was snatched off a Chicago street, never to be seen by her again.

"We thought the van was stolen. We had no notice, no nothing," said daughter Lisandra Velez.

In 2018, with Velez by her side, Santiago, who has multiple sclerosis, showed us where the van was last parked in their Jefferson Park neighborhood. Google Earth images also showed the van routinely on this street. The van had a $10,000 hydraulic wheelchair lift system inside.

Dave: "What kind of a person does this to someone with a disability?"

Lisandra: "I honestly don't know, a  heartless one, a heartless one."

The culprit was the city of Chicago, which took it as part of its abandoned vehicle program. Velez said the vehicle was "absolutely not abandoned."

She and her family had no idea the city had towed her van here to the city auto pound on Sacramento Boulevard. When they found it was here, they tried to get it, only to learn it had already been sold for scrap. How much did the city get for that van with the expensive life inside? Only $15.

That quick $15 the city got paid for her van back then is now costing the city millions in legal fees and settlements. Tax dollars spent to settle a lawsuit over the way Andrea Santiago's van, and thousands of other vehicles, were targeted by the city as abandoned, taken without the proper notification, and sold for scrap. 

"They towed the wrong lady's van. because she was a fighter," said attorney Jacie Zolna.

Zolna filed a class-action suit against the city based on the way Santiago was treated.

"If you don't move your car, uh, on the street, even if it's parked legally, after seven days, the city will come and take it," he said.

The class-action includes about 5000 other vehicle owners since 2017 who got towed without being properly notified.

"Those class members will need to, um, submit a claim to become part of the settlement and confirm that their, their vehicle was, in fact, not abandoned," Zolna said. "We forced the city to change their practice, and they're now required under the settlement to notify people in advance by mail before they tow a vehicle that they think is abandoned."

"It was her lifeline. It's like her legs," Velez said, calling the van her freedom.

Santiago did get some help after CBS News Chicago first reported her case, but not from the city. She was helped by viewers who donated a new van to her seven years ago. But during this long legal fight, it's now broken down. Santiago hopes to be able to buy a new one soon.  

In response to the settlement, Santiago said, "Finally, because I've been waiting for so long."

In 2018 santiago originally asked the city to just reimburse her $15,000 to replace her van but when it refused her attorney Zolna went forward with the class-action lawsuit. 

The total bill for taxpayers will now cost over $3 million, with $1.6 million going for legal fees paid to the city's private law firms, and the rest to those wrongly towed. Andrea Santiago will get $16,500to buy a new van.