Samantha Malone
Bar crawls are a popular pastime for many, but when participants fail to take a responsible mode of transportation home, tragedy can strike. That’s what happened when Tyler Stewart, a 28-year-old Crystal Lake resident, allegedly crashed his truck into a sedan after a night out in February.
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The accident was a result of Stewart driving under the influence and took both his life and the life of Lawrence Madigan, the driver of the sedan that was hit. A lawsuit filed in McHenry County reveals that the family of Madigan is now seeking justice by suing three bars in three different towns that were allegedly stopping points for the bar crawl, according to the Chicago Tribune.
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The family is arguing that these bars share at least some of the responsibility for Stewart’s drunken state, thus playing some part in Madigan’s death. Fin McCool’s bar in Crystal Lake is one of the accused locations and denied the allegations from the court papers while another bar, Durty Nellie’s in Palatine, has not made any public comments, according to the Tribune.
“He was overserved every step of the way,” Jennifer Ashley, the Madigan family attorney, told the Tribune.
The third pub being sued by the Madigan family, Peggy Kinnane’s in Arlington Heights, was the starting point of the bar crawl and said they bare no responsibility for the accident that took place hours later. Derek Hanley said while Peggy Kinnane’s often serves as a stop for bar crawls, his staff is trained to identify patrons that are too drunk to be served, according to the Tribune.
“You’re under the assumption that they’re on the train and, at the end, they take a cab or Uber home,” Hanley told the Tribune. “Logic would tell you that’s the right thing to do, but, unfortunately, not everyone is responsible like that.”
Sheriff reports obtained by Ashley reveal that Stewart was driving North on Walkup Road before swerving into oncoming traffic where he collided with Madigan, a 68-year-old real estate agent who, according to his wife, had just left from meeting with a client. A blood draw revealed Stewart’s blood-alcohol level was at 0.167, 0.087 over the legal limit, when the accident happened.
While state “dram shop” laws cap tavern responsibility at $149,000 when a patron injures or kills someone, Madigan’s wife, Karaline, said she was hoping the lawsuit would send a message.
“It really, really bothers me it happened the way it did, with all the alcohol that had been consumed in that pub crawl,” she told the Tribune. “Why didn’t anybody pay attention to this young man? Why didn’t the bars pay attention to this stuff?”
