Business & Tech
Palatine's Durty Nellie's Sued Over Not Stopping Driver In Fatal Crash
Two other suburban bars also were named in the lawsuit stemming from an accident that killed 2 Crystal Lake men in February.
PALATINE, IL — A popular Palatine bar is being sued by the family of a Crystal Lake man who was killed by a driver who had attended a pub crawl in the area before the fatal accident. Two other suburban bars were named in the lawsuit, along with the family of the 28-year-old man responsible for the February crash, according to NBC 5 Chicago.
Karaline Madigan filed the lawsuit against Durty Nellie's in Palatine — as well as Peggy Kinnane's of Arlington Heights and Finn McCool's of Crystal Lake — because she claims the bars didn't do enough to stop Tyler Stewart from getting behind the wheel of his 2016 Toyota Tacoma after drinking too much and causing a fatal accident that killed him and Lawrence Madigan, Karaline's husband, the report stated. Stewart collided with Madigan the night of Feb. 11 in the southbound lane of Walkup Road, just north of Hillside Road, in unincorporated Nunda Township. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest Palatine news. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)
"[Stewart] began drinking at approximately 2:30 in the afternoon on a Saturday at one bar," Jennifer Ashley, the lawyer representing Karaline Madigan, told NBC 5. "They were there maybe an hour or so, moved on to the next bar, there for an hour or so, moved on to the third bar. So, where the intoxication happened it's debatable, but we believe all three [bars] caused the intoxication because his blood alcohol was twice the legal limit."
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Ashley told the TV station that the pub crawl had been organized to celebrate a birthday, and the bars had been contacted ahead of time. T-shirts were even created for the event, which involved 50 or more people, she added.
RELATED: Alcohol A Suspected Factor In Crash That Killed 2 Crystal Lake Men: Police
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Karaline and Lawrence Madigan's son, TJ, said the family filed the lawsuit as a way for the bars to be held responsible for what they let happen.
"People have to be held accountable. We are all held accountable for the choices that we make," TJ told NBC 5. "As a bar owner or a restaurant owner, when you offer alcohol and you are not serving it responsibly, you should be held accountable."
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