By FLORIAN MARTIN
A Friendswood man, who was injured by a drunk driver a year ago, is suing a bar in San Leon for continuing to serve alcohol to the man who ended up causing the accident.
Charles A. Shearrow II also lists the accused driver, Timothy Miller, his mother Jone Miller and the owner of Wayno’s Bar & Grill, Michael Patrick Dunn, as defendants in his lawsuit filed on Jan. 20.
According to the original petition, on Jan. 19, 2011, Shearrow was a passenger in his father’s car which was stopped at a stop sign when Timothy Miller, who had just left Wayno’s Bar & Grill, disobeyed a stop sign and crashed into the vehicle occupied by Shearrow and his father.
Miller then allegedly left the scene of the accident but was later arrested at his home and charged with third time driving while intoxicated and an accident involving injury, according to the lawsuit. Shearrow, who was 18 at the time according to his attorney, had to be taken to a hospital and “sustained severe, debilitating and permanent injuries to both his brain and vertebrae,” according to the petition.
Robert Swofford, attorney for Shearrow, said Shearrow is doing better but he is still recovering from the accident and to this day suffers from frequent headaches.
The lawsuit alleges that the staff at Wayno’s Bar & Grill at 901 E. Bayshore Drive in San Leon should have recognized that Miller was highly intoxicated and stopped serving him alcoholic beverages. Swofford said the police report listed Miller’s blood alcohol level at .26 percent. The legal limit for drivers is .08 percent.
By not discontinuing service to Miller, the bar violated the Texas Dram Shop Act, the suit alleges. Under the 1987 Dram Shop Act, any establishment that sells or serves alcohol may be sued for damages arising from over-serving.
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