BENTON - A Boone County woman whose mother and three children were killed in a wreck with a drunken driver is suing the Little Rock bars where the driver partied before getting behind the wheel.
The wrongful-death lawsuit filed Friday in Saline County blames three River Market bars - Ernie Biggs, Gusano's Chicago-Style Pizzeria and the Rumba Revolution - for continuing to serve Stephen M. Williams, 28, after he was already intoxicated.
The lawsuit says the bars were negligent for not properly training staff members to recognize impaired customers and notes that state law says establishments can be held civilly liable if they knowingly serve someone who "presents a clear danger to others."
Williams spent about seven hours drinking in the River Market District before mistakenly taking Interstate 530 toward Pine Bluff instead of going home on Interstate 30 to Bryant. He ended up driving the wrong direction on the interstate early Feb. 6 as the grandmother and her three grandchildren traveled south on the same road, bound for a family reunion in Louisiana.
Cassie Crapps watched from a separate vehicle as the car carrying her family crinkled on impact with Williams' truck, killing Jada Crapps, 9; Hunter Crapps, 6; Kaden Crapps, 4; and Althea Crapps, 50.
The lawsuit is seeking payment for medical and funeral expenses; damages for pain and suffering and mental anguish; property damage; and punitive damages. It also names as a defendant Williams, who last week was sentenced to 32 years in prison for the deaths. It was his third driving while intoxicated conviction.
During his criminal trial, Wil-liams said he drank six or seven shots and about as many beers during a Mardi Gras-themed celebration.
Tim Chappell, owner of Gusano's, a small chain of pizzerias, said he didn't want to comment because he had just learned of the lawsuit from a reporter. Representatives of the other two bars could not be reached Friday.
The lawsuit doesn't cite any examples of bar employees having knowledge of Williams or his behavior. But Hugh Crisp, the Little Rock attorney representing Crapps, said there was evidence of negligence based on the testimonyof Williams' friends and because Williams' blood-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit.
"The facts will speak for themselves," he said.
He said the lawsuit was filed in Saline County because that's where Williams lived at the time of the crash.
Teresa Belew, head of the Arkansas office of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said victims in DWI cases often look for ways to make a difference, and holding bars accountable is part of it.
"One of the common things that victims say once something like this has happened is 'What can best be done to keep this from happening again?'" she said. "So to me, it's part of the healing journey that victims go through."
Arkansas, Pages 13, 22 on 10/25/2008