The parents of a 2-year-old boy who died after a car crashed into an Oswego Portillo’s last month are on a mission to make sure tragedies like theirs don’t happen again.
The family has filed a lawsuit against the restaurant chain. They said safety measures should have been in place to prevent a person from driving through the restaurant, leading to their son’s death.
“This incident was foreseeable and preventable,” Schyler McKee said.
McKee, the father of 2-year-old Finnegan, made an emotional plea for change Friday morning.
“We want safety precautions to be implemented at all businesses to prevent this from happening to anyone else, including you or your family,” he said.
On July 30, Schyler McKee’s son was killed after the driver of a Lincoln MKZ went through the entrance of an Oswego Portillo’s.
This lawsuit, filed by the family’s attorney, claimed the driver was attempting to get into a parking space in front of the restaurant entrance and accelerated. The sedan jumped the curb and crashed through the front of the restaurant, killing the boy, who was sitting inside with his family.
“There are protective measures that all establishments should have in place to ensure the safety of the patrons that are on the inside,” attorney Anthony Cairo said.
The Oswego Portillo’s had no safety bollards at the entrance, but did have them in place at the drive-thru and at light poles. Wheel stops were in front of handicapped parking spaces.
CBS Skywatch captured construction barrels blocking the parking spots where the sedan entered the restaurant. The lawsuit says Portillo’s was on notice before the crash about vehicle-into-building crashes at locations where pedestrians were hurt.
Among them—Downers Grove in 2014 and New Lenox in 2023.
In New Lenox and Downers Grove, there were wheelstops in front of entrance parking spaces and bollards in the drive-thru. At the Algonquin location, bollards are found at the entrance.
Finnegan’s mother, Christina McKee, spoke while holding a teddy bear, which she said now represents her son and keeps his memory alive for the entire family.
“For our two little boys at home to still have something to look at, and he’s wearing his ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ pajamas, which was his favorite,” she said.
The two-year-old’s father said his mission is to prevent further tragedy through “Finnegan’s Project,” which focuses on getting a law passed and making bollards mandatory at businesses.
“Finnegan is such a joyful, loving, and brilliant little dude,” he said. “He would want us to do anything we can to make sure the safety of not only dining in a restaurant, but also pedestrian entryways to be protected.”
Oswego police said no citations were issued or charges filed, and that the case remains under investigation.
Portillo’s told CBS News Chicago they couldn’t comment on pending litigation.
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