Blog Post

Restaurants and Driver Settle for $410,000 in DUI Case


January 29, 2008
Topic: Drunk Driving Accidents

It's difficult to say who's most at fault in a drunken driving accident - the one who gets behind the wheel, fully aware he is a danger to other people, or the establishment that plies a man with enough alcohol to be a danger to other people.

Evidently, the relatives of 22-year-old Evan Zarate, who was killed in a DUI collision, didn't need any convincing about where the fault lay and who should pay. They have managed to settle for a sum of $410,000 with the drunken driver, the restaurant where he was served the alcohol that caused the crash and the employees who failed to detect that the driver was too drunk to be served more alcohol.

The case relates to the accident that occurred on August 24, 2005 in Tucson, Arizona, in which Julie Lagergren, driving under the influence, crashed her Volvo station wagon into the Kia of the victim, Evan Zarate. The Kia was being driven by Monica Miranda, the mother of two of Zarate's kids. The crash left Monica with serious injuries including a punctured lung. Zarate never regained consciousness after the crash. He died a week later in the hospital.

His family lost no time filing lawsuits against Lagergren, Elle, a Wine County Restaurant, Cuvee World Bistro and Walgreens. The lawsuit alleges that the restaurant where Julia Lagergren was served alcohol was at fault for serving intoxicants to a person who was already drunk. Walgreens employees should also have detected that Julie was intoxicated, the lawsuit alleged, but they went ahead and sold her liquor anyway.

According to Ele's attorneys, the bartender who served Lagergren the drinks was trained to detect any obvious signs of intoxication, and did not detect any such sign of drunkenness on the woman.

Obviously the bartender and other employees were not as trained at detecting people who are intoxicated as they fancy themselves. A woman who was at least 3 times over the DUI limit levels of intoxication was allowed to drink more as she passed through the bar on her way out on the road and into Zarate's car.

Lagergren herself was sentenced in December 2006 to 3 years in prison for negligent homicide and five years of probation for aggravated assault. This settlement now places stiff and fair financial burden on her other accomplices in this tragedy.

If you have been injured or a loved on has been killed in a drunk driving accident, contact an experienced California personal injury lawyer at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.


The California personal injury attorneys at The Reeves Law Group represent victims of accidents, injuries and wrongful death throughout California from our offices in Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Diego County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County, Ventura County, Fresno County, Kern County, Sacramento County, San Fernando Valley, Long Beach, Antelope Valley, Torrance, Glendale, Bakersfield, Santa Ana, San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, Ontario, and Victorville.