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Restaurant denies blame for fatal crashBy Times staff writer
© St. Petersburg Times, DADE CITY -- Representatives of a defunct Wesley Chapel steakhouse this week denied responsibility for a fatal crash that involved an underage drinker. The Wesley Chapel Brewmasters restaurant and parent company Marvels Inc. were sued in June by the mother of the teenager who died. In a response filed in Circuit Court, the company says driver Jason Chee Don, then 19, was not served alcohol at the restaurant before the July 19, 1999, crash on State Road 54 that killed passenger Christopher Tobey, 18. But if Don was served at the restaurant, then it was only because he used a fake identification and the lawsuit is invalid, the response states. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Don was driving from the restaurant in a borrowed pickup truck going faster than the 45 mph speed limit, and had a blood-alcohol level above the 0.08 limit at which the state presumes that someone is impaired. Tobey was thrown from the truck when it crashed. Lying in the road, he was run over by a passing car and died at the scene. Don was paralyzed from the chest down in the crash. Neither teen was wearing a seat belt when the truck crashed near Old Cypress Creek Road, according to the FHP. In the response, written by attorney Douglas R. Wight of St. Petersburg, the restaurant claims the teens bear some of the responsibility for their injuries because they weren't wearing seat belts.
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From today's Pasco Times |
