HOUSTON — A dram shop seeking more than $1 million in damages was recently filed in Harris County District Court.
Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner partner Brant Stogner and attorney Soroush Montazari filed the lawsuit on behalf of Dilma Dos Santos. Dos Santos was a passenger in a vehicle that was struck by a drunk driver that was driving the wrong way on Spur 527. She remains in the hospital and has undergone multiple surgeries.
According to her petition, on Jan. 28 Dos Santos was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Rashad James driving northbound on 800 Southwest Freeway and Spur 527 in Houston. The defendant Jason Cornelius Black was driving a Ford-150 headed southbound in the northbound lanes of the Southwest Freeway. Black was operating his truck while intoxicated, driving the wrong way on the Southwest Freeway exit ramp; and caused a major head-on collision. Black violently struck the vehicle that Dos Santos was a passenger in causing severe and disabling injuries to her.
Before the accident, on the evening of Jan. 27 through the early hours of Jan. 28, Black consumed alcohol at CRU Lounge and was over-served by CRU Lounge as the term is defined by the Dram Shop Act.
A press release states that Black was obviously intoxicated when he was served alcoholic beverages at CRU Lounge. By being over-served alcoholic beverages, Black presented a clear danger to himself and others. As a result of this incident and the severity of the impact, the passenger of Black’s vehicle, Diandra Bellamy, was killed in the collision. The Harris County District Attorney’s Office has charged Black with intoxication manslaughter.
“This tragic crash could have been avoided had CRU Lounge not overserved Mr. Black. Safety of your patrons and the general public should be a priority of any bar or nightclub, however, unfortunately, we see these types of incidents occurring more often than not.”, said Soroush Montazari, attorney for Dos Santos.
Firm partner, Brant J. Stogner, who is also representing Dos Santos, said: “This is yet another example of people being killed and catastrophically injured in a completely preventable accident. Mr. Black was overserved to the point that he was driving the wrong way on the highway.”
The lawsuit alleges negligence and gross negligence against the driver. The plaintiffs also allege Dram Shop violations against CRU Lounge for overserving alcohol to Mr. Black before the crash.