Man files complaint after spraining ankle in DMV parking lot pothole
ELGIN, Ill. (CBS) -- He went to an Illinois Secretary of State's Office driver services center to get new license plates, and ended up with a sprained ankle, and he's blaming the state for his injury.
Matt Kobal said he doesn't want any money from the state, he just wants them to fix the bevy of potholes littering the parking lot where he got hurt.
Kobal will admit it was not his proudest moment in life.
"Very embarrassed about what happened," he said.
Last month, confusion at the Secretary of State's office in Elgin, when workers could not help him get new plates, he needed to go to a different facility.
"I was frustrated, and I left," he said.
Walking back to his car, staring at the papers in hand, Kobal said he stepped into a pothole with his left foot.
Brushing it off, he left to pick up his kids, but later that night, he said he "could barely walk."
"I couldn't put any weight on my foot," he said.
A doctor gave him a boot for a sprained ankle, but Kobal made sure he came back the driver services facility, taking a closer look at the lot. He counted more than a dozen potholes in a row.
"All of varying sizes and depths," he said.
We counted 18 potholes in one aisle of parking spaces.
"This isn't something that just developed overnight," Kobal said.
Embarrassment turned into a push for accountability.
"In my opinion, they're putting other citizens and taxpayers at risk," he said.
He filed online complaints with the Illinois Secretary of State, and made appeals in person; not to get the state to pay for medical expenses, but to make repairs to the parking lot used by hundreds of drivers every day.
It proved an even bumpier road to get someone to hear him out.
"I didn't feel that I was being listened to. There was very little empathy," he said.
The Secretary of State's office told CBS 2 they received Kobal's complaint – and are sorry to hear about happened, adding that any questions about the lot upkeep need to go through the Illinois Department of Central Management Services.
"My biggest concern is the people I spoke with here gathered information and it went nowhere," Kobal said.
CMS did not provide answers on when the lot was last repaired, only saying they'll be in touch with the Secretary of State's office about fixing the potholes.
Kobal said he just doesn't want what happened to him happening to anyone else.
