Snookers Faces Wrongful Death Lawsuit In I-55 Fatality

WILMINGTON, IL — Relatives of Nicholas Ercolini, a 33-year-old motorist who was killed on Nov. 22, 2020, by a wrong way motorist along Interstate 55 near Wilmington, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Snookers Sports Bar and Grill.

Wilmington resident Erik Christensen was drinking alcohol at the Wilmington bar on Strip Mine Road prior to his crash on I-55 that ended Ercolini's life, according to attorney Bob Walsh of the Chicago law firm of Clifford Law Offices.

The wrongful death lawsuit against the Wilmington drinking establishment was filed this week at the Will County Courthouse.

"That on or before November 22, 2020, defendant Snookers was under a duty to not serve alcoholic beverages to its patrons including Erik Christensen to the point of intoxication," Walsh's lawsuit states.

As Ercolini was driving northbound along I-55, Christensen "an intoxicated person, collided in a head-on manner with the vehicle" driven by Ercolini, a resident of Blackstone, which is about 10 miles southeast of Streator.

On Thursday afternoon, Patch interviewed the owner of Snookers, and he said he had never heard of Erik Christensen or the November 2020 fatality.

"I've never even heard of the incident," the bar's owner told Patch.

He said that Snookers has existed for 40 years "and we've never had a lawsuit."

When Patch told the owner of Snookers that Christensen faces several felony charges of aggravated drunken driving, he replied, "I've never heard of the guy. We don't have any (video) cameras here."

In February, Joliet Patch reported that after spending more than two months recuperating from his injuries, Christensen was moved from a suburban Chicago rehabilitation center to the Will County Jail.

The Will County State's Attorney's Office of Jim Glasgow has charged Christensen with seven total counts of aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol and aggravated driving while license revoked.

Christensen, now 49, was incarcerated from Feb. 4 until posting 10 percent of his $200,000 bail on March 12, according to Will County Jail records.

The Wilmington man's criminal case remains in the pretrial phase at the Will County Courthouse.