EDWARDSVILLE — A Collinsville woman is suing an Edwardsville bar and grill, saying she suffered severe injuries as a passenger in a vehicle, alleging violation of the Illinois Dram Shop Act.
In her five-page complaint filed Sept. 3 in Madison County Circuit Court, Meagan Dick says in September 2018 she was a passenger in a 2009 Nissan Maxima owned by Barry Welper after they left Hotshots Sports Bar and Grill where they had both been drinking.
Dick alleges while Welper was driving, he "caused the vehicle to strike a concrete culvert which caused the Nissan to strike a hill opposite of the culvert and flip onto its roof." The suit states Dick "suffered severe and permanent injuries to her head, neck, back, torso, arms and legs and will continue to suffer great bodily pain, and was temporarily and permanently injured, disabled and disfigured."
In the two-count complaint, Dick alleges dram shop violations against Central Park LLC, which does business as Hotshots Sports Bar and Grill, specifically Hotshots' Edwardsville location. Welper also is named as a defendant in the case, under a negligence count.
Dick seeks more than $50,000 in each count, in addition to "any other such relief as the court deems appropriate and just."
Welper was intoxicated but Hotshots continued "to serve defendant Welper alcoholic beverages causing him to become more intoxicated," the complaint said. "That liquor consumed by Welper at Hotshots was a material and substantial factor in the intoxication."
Dick also argues she has incurred and will incur medical expenses and "has past, present and future pain and suffering, disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life and lost wages and earnings."
Welper was negligent in, among other things, traveling at an excessive speed, failing to keep a proper lookout and failing to "pull over his vehicle when instructed by the Edwardsville Police Department," the complaint said, and Welper's negligence "was the proximate cause of the collision and injuries to Dick.''
Dick is represented by attorney Michael R. Wesley of the Law Office of Michael R. Wesley LLC, in Wood River.
Madison County Circuit Court Case number 2019-L-001262