Belleville tavern sued by patron who trips on way to car

Antique House Bar & Grill is being sued by a patron who broke his leg after tripping on a concrete parking restrictor that had been pushed onto a sidewalk.

Martin S. Lang claims his fractured leg required surgery and the installation of a plate, as well as caused him physical pain, mental anguish and the loss of a normal life.

The incident occurred Sept, 20, 2006, after Lang exited the building and was walking on the sidewalk to his car, according to a $100,000 civil suit filed Aug. 16 in St. Clair County Circuit Court.

Located at 3701 West Main in Belleville, the Antique House is open to the public for the consumption of alcoholic beverages, the suit says.

"It was the duty of the Defendant to keep the premises in a reasonably safe condition for the Plaintiff and other persons lawfully in and about the tavern, and not to create or allow dangerous conditions to exist on or about the premises," the complaint states.

Lang claims the defendants, including Baby Dog Inc., doing business as Antique House, and owners John M. Ziska, Marcia K. Ziska and Randy Fisher, were negligent for not properly pinning down the concrete parking restrictor.

He claims the parking restrictor was in a dilapidated condition in that it "was broken into three pieces and the pieces were held together by the reinforcing bar which ran through it and was much more easily moved due to the fact that it was in three pieces, of lighter weight and due to the fact that each of the three pieces could be independently moved without much effort, resulting in the pieces being pushed upon the sidewalk."

Lang also claims the defendants failed to properly inspect the premises to determine whether the concrete parking restrictor had been pushed from the parking lot onto the sidewalk.

He is represented by Matthew J. Marlen of Belleville.