Cancer patient says car disappeared after random tow truck took it to body shop after crash
A cancer patient says his car has disappeared after he was involved in a crash on the way to a doctor's appointment and a random tow truck driver showed up and took his car to a body shop.
More than a month later, Edward Kuczmierczyk said his car hadn't been fixed. In fact, he had no idea where it was.
On Nov. 5, 2025, Kuczmierczyk crashed his 2010 Nissan Versa into a railing, sending his car partially down a stairway.
"I pushed the gas instead of the brake," he said. I was driving fast. Make turn and hit this."
Kuczmierczyk has Stage 4 cancer that started in his stomach and spread to hi lungs. He has no family. His son, daughter-in-law and 3-month-old granddaughter were all killed in a car crash by a drunk driver in Poland several years ago.
He relied on his car to get him to chemotherapy appointments, which is where he was going on the day of the crash.
"I was in distress of course," he said.
Kuczmierczyk said moments after the crash, a tow truck driver he didn't call showed up and took his car. The man texted him a picture of a business card for West Loop Auto. Then, on Thanksgiving Day, Kuczmierczyk said a man claiming to be the father of the body shop owner came to his home and told him to sign the checks Allstate sent the body shop so parts could be bought for repairs.
The checks totaled just over $3,600. Nearly three weeks later the car still wasn't fixed.
CBS News Chicago went to West Loop Auto to speak to the owner on Dec. 17 ,2025. He didn't come to the door. We were able to reach him by phone.
He disputed Kuczmierczyk's story, saying the car was set to be finished in a week. But that didn't happen.
"He's a thief. And a liar," said Maria Brzoskwinia, who has been friends with Kuczmierczyk for more than 30 years.
Brzoskwinia reached out to CBS News Chicago for help, saying the body shop owner told her the vehicle was a total loss but never reported that to Allstate's total loss department. He also told her he would be keeping the money for storage fees, and that he would not repair the car or give it back.
After we reached out to Allstate, Kuczmierczyk said he received a check for the value of his car: $3,450.
"We are very grateful that you helped me with this story because probably he would not get anything because Allstate already paid for repair, which was never repaired," Brzoskwinia said.
When asked if West Loop Auto would need to reimburse them because the car was declared a total loss and no repairs were made, Allstate told us in a statement, "We worked with the customer and fully resolved the issue." Allstate said it couldn't provide any additional information because of customer privacy.
