Let there be no misunderstanding, there are few things more serious from the standpoint point of DWI than being involved in a fatal drunk driving roadway accident. And while it is usually the alleged drunk motorist who is charged with DWI-DUI following a serious injury accident or fatal collision, others can be implicated as well depending on the circumstances. As New Jersey drunk driving legal defenders, I and my staff of experienced DWI attorneys are well aware of the consequences of any drinking and driving arrest.
But aside from the driver who is accused of causing an accident while impaired by alcohol or prescription meds, occasionally a third party may be held at least partially responsible for certain DWI-DUI incidents even though that party did not personally get behind the wheel of a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or a controlled dangerous substance (CDS).
The repercussions for some drinking establishments and retail outlets of alcoholic beverages are often held to a high standard when it comes to serving individuals who already are drunk. Take, for instance, a news reports that we ran across a while back that described a Vineland adult entertainment club that allegedly served liquor to a pair of underage individuals who later died in what police described as a DWI-related traffic collision.
According to the article, the incident occurred back in June of 2011 when then 18-year-old Jonathan Rothschild of Clayton, NJ, and 20-year-old Ian Drebes of Franklinville were involved in a single-car crash around 2am along a stretch of Weymouth Road in Gloucester County. Based on reports, the two men had been served alcohol at the Kashmir Club on Weymouth Road before leaving the establishment and getting into their car the morning of June 28, 2011.
According to a subsequent investigation, both Rothschild and Drebes each had five or six drinks in a roughly 90-minute timespan; those drinks included shots of tequila, mixed drinks and beer. Even though both deceased individuals were in possession of false identification, which erroneously showed them to be 21 years of age, the Kashmir Club was barred by the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control from serving liquor at that location two years beginning this past September 5.
According to police, the men had also been at another bar in Williamstown — Taylor’s Grill and Bar — prior to stopping by the Kashmir Club. Following the fatal one-vehicle wreck, a toxicology report showed that Mr. Drebes had a blood-alcohol content (BAC) of 0.157 percent and that Mr. Rothschild had a BAC of 0.162.
Following the revocation of Kashmir’s liquor license, a spokesperson for the New Jersey ABC stated that the establishment had “failed to meet the most important and fundamental obligations” of all liquor licensees. That is, the neither of the the two underage men should have been allowed to enter the establishment and that they should not have been served alcohol when they already appeared to be intoxicated by alcohol.
An announcement from the New Jersey ABC stated that Kashmir’s licensees, David Glassman and Jack Paik, were found guilty on two counts each of serving alcohol to a person under the legal age and serving alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person. Paik, who is also named in the liquor license for Centerfolds Cabaret in Deerfield Township, NJ, was ordered to divest himself of any interest in that establishment’s liquor license by August 6, 2014. At the time of the news article, the New Jersey ABC was also in the process of prosecuting the other bar.
Vineland gentlemen’s club loses liquor license over fatal DUI, CourierPostOnline.com, August 13, 2013