WOODSTOCK – The family of a man killed in car crash has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in McHenry County against the bar that sold alcohol to his driver.
Robert Sloan Jr. and Bradley J. Kass, both of Algonquin, were killed May 2, when a vehicle driven by Kass hit a tree at West Rawson Bridge Road and Ida Drive in Oakwood Hills. The two were returning from a night of drinking at the Port Barrington-based bar The Broken Oar, court records indicate.
Kass, 25, was pronounced dead at the scene, and 22-year-old Sloan later died at Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington.
The six-count civil lawsuit, filed in June by Sloan’s parents, alleges that the bar over-served Kass before the crash. The Sloans are seeking unspecified damages.
“The impact of this tragedy is immense,” the Sloans attorney, Matt Rundio, said in an email to the Northwest Herald. “The Sloan family lost [a] loving son and brother who touched the lives of everyone around him and had a bright and promising future. This tragic case is another example of the dangers of bars over-serving customers who then get behind the wheel [and] drive under the influence, which puts the safety of their passengers and the public at-large in danger.”
In court documents, an attorney for Broken Oar filed what’s called an affirmative defense, meaning the bar denied all allegations in the Sloan’s complaint, and argued that Sloan got in the vehicle with Kass knowing he was intoxicated. The Broken Oar’s attorney did not return a call for comment.
The matter has a court date Tuesday before McHenry County Judge Michael Caldwell.