Progressive Am. Ins. Co. v. Crilley

• Decision Date: 23 February 2022
• Docket Number: Case No. 8:20-cv-1640-TPB-AAS
• Citation: 586 F.Supp.3d 1205
• Parties: PROGRESSIVE AMERICAN INSURANCE COMPANY, Plaintiff, v. Jeffrey CRILLEY, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Florida

586 F.Supp.3d 1205

PROGRESSIVE AMERICAN INSURANCE COMPANY, Plaintiff,
v.
Jeffrey CRILLEY, et al., Defendants.

Case No. 8:20-cv-1640-TPB-AAS

United States District Court, M.D. Florida, Tampa Division.

Signed February 23, 2022

586 F.Supp.3d 1207

Stuart J. Freeman, Freeman, Goldis & Cash, P.A., St. Petersburg, FL, for Plaintiff.

Marion Hale, Robert Vernon Potter, Johnson, Pope, Bokor, Ruppel & Burns, LLP, Clearwater, FL, for Defendants Jeffrey Crilley, 319 North Holdings, LLC.

James Beckett Thompson, Jr., Thompson Miller PA, St. Petersburg, FL, for Defendant Adela Ulloa Alvarez.

Brian David Murry, Paul Knopf Bigger, Winter Park, FL, Brent R. Bigger, Paul Knopf Bigger, Tampa, FL, for Defendants Alexander Barberan, Jennifer Tovar Gonzalez.

ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

TOM BARBER, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

This matter is before the Court on "Plaintiff's Motion for Entry of Final Summary Judgment and Incorporated Memorandum of Law," filed on September 15, 2021. (Doc. 32). Two of the named Defendants filed a response to the motion on October 5, 2021. (Doc. 39). Plaintiff filed a reply on October 7, 2021. (Doc. 40). Based on the motion, response, reply, court record and file, the Court finds as follows.

Background

The facts of this case are undisputed. Defendant Jeffrey Crilley had an automobile insurance policy under policy number 47070735 (the "Policy") issued by Defendant Progressive American Insurance Company, the relevant provisions of which are discussed below. Crilley owned two 2014 Mercedes Benz automobiles listed on the Policy, which he used for personal purposes. Crilley was also the sole member of a real estate company, Defendant 319 Holdings, LLC, which owned a 2012 Mercedes automobile and maintained an insurance policy on which the 2012 Mercedes was listed. From the time 319 Holdings purchased the 2012 Mercedes, Crilley regularly and extensively used it for company business until he retired, after which he used it less often.

At some point before the accident that gave rise to this lawsuit, Crilley loaned the 2012 Mercedes to Defendant Adela Ulloa Alvarez, with whom he was romantically involved. The car was typically garaged at Alvarez's residence approximately 30 minutes from Crilley's home. Crilley kept a key to the car, and there was no agreement that Alvarez could use the car for any particular length of time. Crilley also continued to use the car for company business on occasion. Crilley had the right to demand the return of the car at any time.

In 2019, Alvarez was driving the 2012 Mercedes with Defendant Corey Feldman as a passenger. Alvarez left the car, and Feldman then drove it and was involved in an accident that injured Defendants Alexander Barberan and Jennifer Tovar-Gonzalez. They filed suit in state court for personal injuries, naming Crilley, Feldman, Alvarez, and 319 Holdings as defendants under theories of negligence, negligent entrustment, and vicarious liability.

Progressive filed this suit seeking a declaration that there is no bodily injury coverage under the Policy as to Crilley, 319 Holdings, Alvarez, or Feldman for Barberan or Tovar-Gonzalez's injuries, that it has no...