LEXINGTON, Ky. (WWJ) -- One of the bars accused of over-serving the drunk driver who killed a Northville family of five in a wrong-way crash along I-75 in Kentucky back in January has pleaded guilty.
Officials announced Wednesday the city of Lexington's Alcoholic Beverage Control Office has reached an agreement with Horseshoes' Kentucky Grill & Saloon for the bar to plead guilty to serving an intoxicated person, pay a $10,000 fine and serve a 10-day suspension of their liquor license. The establishment will not be allowed to sell alcohol May 17-May 26.
Joey Lee Bailey was served the equivalent of at least 19 alcoholic drinks at the Horseshoes' Kentucky Grill & Saloon and Roosters Wings in nearby Georgetown the night of Jan. 6, according to a civil lawsuit filed Tuesday. Bailey then traveled six miles headed southbound in the northbound lanes of I-75 in Lexington before his pickup truck crashed into the vehicle carrying Issam and Rima Abbas, and their three children, killing the entire family. Bailey also died in the crash.
Bailey's blood alcohol concentration was nearly four times the legal limit.
The family's attorney, Andy Mayoras, says the punishment handed down by the Lexington Alcoholic Beverage Control Office was not strict enough, calling it "beyond outrageous."
"If the administrative governing bodies are not going to take significant action to curtail this type of behavior by bars and bar owners, it’s only through civil litigation that we can change the culture of bars that believe it’s okay to serve intoxicated people and let them get behind the wheel," Mayoras told WWJ.
The civil lawsuit says Bailey drank at least two 22-ounce beers and three double White Russians at Roosters before driving to Horseshoes' Kentucky Grill & Saloon, where he had at least one more beer and four more double White Russians. Bailey then got into his 2015 Chevy Silverado and would soon collide with the Abass family's vehicle.
The family is seeking unspecified damages, part of which Mayoras says will go to charity.
"Honestly, their goal really isn’t money. Their primary goal is to make sure that this never happens to anyone else," Mayoras said.
The Horseshoes' Kentucky Grill & Saloon has a reported history of over-serving customers, according to Mayoras.
“Given the magnitude of what happened, how much alcohol this guy was served and the horrible tragedy that resulted – he had a blood alcohol content that was almost four times the legal limit – and the bar is slapped on the wrist for their role in this tragedy.”
Mayoras says it's a scary thought that a bar could serve someone that much alcohol.
"So inebriated that he traveled the wrong direction down the highway at high rates of speed for a reported six miles before this accident occurred," he said. "And for someone to be in that oblivious of a condition, it’s horrifying that this was allowed to happen.”