October 4 , 2005

JUDGE PLACES TRUCKING FIRM IN RECEIVERSHIP

By David Owens And Daniel P. Jones, The Hartford Courant
A superior court judge today ordered American Crushing & Recycling into receivership and appointed a Bridgeport lawyer to oversee company operations and protect its assets.

The company and its owner, David Wilcox, have been under close scrutiny since July 29, when one of the company's dump trucks went out of control as it descended Avon Mountain, causing a horrific accident at Routes 44 and 10 claiming four lives and damaging 20 vehicles.

Judge Vanessa L. Bryant declined to find company owner David Wilcox in contempt of court today, despite requests from lawyers representing the attorney general and the estate of a man killed in the crash that she do so. They had presented evidence from investigators that they said showed that Wilcox has been disposing of company assets, in violation of court order that froze those assets.

With the company in receivership and its assets presumably protected, Bryant said she wanted to hear from Wilcox before determining whether he willfully violated her order. He is due before her at 10 a.m. Nov. 2.

Still, she expressed astonishment that Wilcox failed to heed the court orders delivered to him by state marshals last week.

"I am stunned that Mr. Wilcox is not present," Bryant said. "It certainly does substantiate the claims of the plaintiffs in these actions that he's flouting the order of this court and that he is in serious jeopardy of being found in contempt of this court." A contempt finding could result in Wilcox being fined or jailed, Bryant added.

David T. Ryan of the Hartford law firm Robinson & Cole appeared today on behalf of American Crushing & Recycling, the limited liability corporation controlled by Wilcox. Ryan told Bryant that he was retained by Acadia Insurance Co. to represent American Crushing, but that he does not represent Wilcox.

Acadia has a separate lawsuit pending in federal court in which it is asking a judge to find that it has no obligation to defend or indemnify American Crushing. The insurance company claims American Crushing suspended most coverage on its fleet of 12 trucks in January, cashed a nearly $40,000 premium refund check, then tried in the hours immediately after the July 29 crash to have coverage reinstated.

Wilcox had been ordered to appear this morning before Bryant with company business records.

Ryan said he spoke to Jonathan Stable, a West Hartford lawyer who has represented American Crushing and who is the firm's registered agent, and Starble told him the company was in the process of assembling the records, but could not do so by today's proceeding.

Bryant, with the agreement of the lawyers at today's hearing, appointed Matthew K. Beatman of the Bridgeport firm Zeisler & Zeisler to oversee American Crushing and protect its assets.

Michael Stratton, a New Haven lawyer representing the estate of Paul A. "Chip" Stotler, a father of five young girls who was killed in the crash, said that under the terms of the receivership Wilcox should not be permitted on the property.

"Mr. Wilcox just lost his company. He's been kicked off the premises," Stratton said outside the courthouse. "We got just about everything we asked for today."

Copyright 2005, Hartford Courant