After an off-duty firefighter was killed in a DUI-fueled crash, his family learnt that the man that caused the crash was allowed to reside, and openly drink alcohol, in a rest area located near the scene of the accident. The family has now retained an attorney with plans to sue several entities involved in the ownership and operation of the rest area, as reported by the Norwich Bulletin.
B.D.M., 33, was traveling on Interstate 395 with his family on March 9, 2012 when a Jeep Cherokee, driven by W.G., 50, drove into his 2004 Nissan Maxima. Police reports show that B.D.M. had lost control of his vehicle while trying to avoid a collision with W.G. – instead B.D.M. entered oncoming traffic that resulted in a chain reaction of car crashes, and his death.
Watertown-based attorney Mark Griffin is representing the family in the wrongful death lawsuit. Griffin will be allegedly requesting damages in the "eight-figure" range.
B.D.M. was driving in the car with his two boys as passengers, both survived.
B.D.M.'s father G.D.M., commented, "Whatever comes out of this is for the boys. There's no number that can replace our son."
Two defendants in the suit are Project Service LLC and O, R&L Facilities Service LLC. The state Department of Transportation hired Project Service LLC to rehabilitate and operate 23 interstate service stations. Project Service LLC, in turn, hired O, R&L Facilities Service LLC to manage the stations.
Of the near 600-page lawsuit, Griffin shared some of the details with reporters via a news release. He stated that W.G. was living out of his Jeep for the two weeks leading up to the accident – while openly drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana on the station's premises.
Griffin wrote, "He's there for approximately two weeks, bumming cigarettes off a cashier, using their bathroom and electricity to charge his batteries. There's no place else to go when you're there. The only place you can go is back out on that highway. He was using the bathroom to wash his face, his hands and he was buying stuff. If you own or manage that property and saw a vagrant for two weeks, what normal person would allow that to happen?"
Following the crash W.G.'s blood alcohol was tested and it proved to be three times the legal limit to drive – 0.25 percent.
Four months after the crash W.G. was arrested. He pleaded guilty to all charges that included: three counts of second-degree assault, second-degree manslaughter with a motor vehicle, first-degree reckless endangerment, second-degree assault with a motor vehicle, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and several moving violations. He is currently being held on $200,000 bail.
G.D.M. added, "It's been two years since our son was killed, and there's still no sentence. It just seems like kind of an open-and-shut case. I don't need the guy to die. If I spent time hating people, we couldn't spend time loving our boy."
Loosing a loved one at any time in any way is extremely difficult. However, if your loss is due to the actions of another person you can sue for damages. Contact a personal injury lawyer to file your lawsuit for wrongful death right away!