Q: Police have held my car on hold since 3/18/23 and I tried to get info on it but the police report doesn’t even exist

A: Hello,

I would recommend requesting records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and/or contacting the police department that issued the report to get more information. If you are unfamiliar with this process I recommend contacting an attorney to help you.

Have a nice day!

A: I'm very sorry to hear what you have been through. It's possible the police report number you were provided is incorrect. If that's the case, please know you can also search for police reports using the name of your "friend" and/or your own name, the date of the crash, and the location of the crash. Please also note that suburban police departments sometimes take 10 days to complete and upload the police reports to the websites used to access them (especially where an arrest is involved), but you can directly contact the police department's record division for updates as necessary.

A: If I understand correctly, you were a passenger in your own car at the time of the accident. Your friend who was driving is currently incarcerated, and your car was impounded and has remained impounded for 10 months. Sadly, the towing and storage fees on your car may far exceed its fair market value. It is also possible that the vehicle was sold at auction for partial payment of towing and storage fees.

If your car was insured at the time of the accident, you should have provided that information to the insurance company as soon as you were released from the hospital. They would know how to get it. If you want a copy of your police report, all you need to know is the date of the accident, the location of the accident, and the name of the driver or passenger. If the accident happened within the city limits of the city of Chicago, you can Order the report online at https://crash.chicagopolice.org/tcr for six dollars. The police report will be emailed to you in PDF format within a few minutes if you use a credit card. If the accident happened in any other municipality, you need to call that municipality's records department to ask whether they use a third-party vendor for providing police reports. All but the smallest municipalities do use of vendor. The smallest municipalities generally require that you mail them a check or go in person and pay by cash or money Order in the amount specified by the municipality.

Again, if you waited 10 months to do anything, the overwhelming likelihood is that your car has been sold at auction or you will owe the tow yard more than the car is worth. In future, never delay in providing all details to your insurance company. If you encounter difficulty securing information, ask your insurance company how to get it. If they won't tell you, ask the police department how to get it. Everything I have told you is common knowledge that anyone should be willing to share.

A: I'm sorry to hear about your accident and hope everyone is recovering well. Here's are some things you can try to obtain information about your accident.:

Illinois State Police (ISP) Crash Reports: You can request a crash report from the ISP online at https://isp.illinois.gov/CrashReports or by mail. You'll need to provide details from the accident, such as a driver's first and last name, the date of the crash, and the location of the crash.

Illinois Department of Transportation Motorist Report: You can also request your crash report online from sites like https://myaccident.org/illinois-accident-reports. You'll need to provide information about the accident and specific driver, or vehicle involved in the crash².

Contact Police Departments for the area where the crash occurred: If a local police officer or sheriff did appear on the scene, you may be able to get a report from their respective offices.

Legal Assistance: If you're having difficulty obtaining the necessary information, consider seeking help from a personal injury lawyer. They can assist you in gathering the required details and navigating the process.

I have no affiliation and make no recommendation of the use of any of the sites listed above; I merely list them as reference to resources that may help you. I hope this helps you in obtaining the necessary details about your accident. Please take care.