Race Car Driver Claims Darien Car Dealership Crashed Camaro: Lawsuit

DARIEN, CT — A competitive race car driver has sued a local car dealership and employee, claiming they were negligent and reckless in the crash of his Camaro.

Kenny Habul, a Greenwich resident, filed a lawsuit in Stamford Superior Court on June 17 against H&L Chevrolet located in Darien, and Matthew Sebastian, a dealership employee.

According to the lawsuit, Habul brought his 2018 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1E Hendrick Edition to the dealership in January because the car would not start despite the battery showing full power.

The car, which was brought to the dealership on a flatbed truck, was a collector's item with an appraised value of $97,000 and only 989 miles on it, the lawsuit noted, claiming "there was no need for a test drive."

"H&L Chevrolet was informed that the vehicle was a collector's piece and was never driven on the road," the lawsuit claimed. "H&L Chevrolet was also further instructed that under no circumstances was any employee to take the vehicle off of the lot."

However, the lawsuit claimed Sebastian and another employee decided to take the Camaro off the lot and onto I-95 North, where the car was later involved in a single-vehicle accident.

"Upon information and belief, Mr. Sebastian was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident," the lawsuit claimed, noting an analysis of the car's data showed the Camaro's accelerator was 95 percent depressed and the car was traveling 89 mph right before the crash.

"In other words, in the seconds before the crash Mr. Sebastian gunned the engine and lost control of the high-performance vehicle that he should not have been driving," the lawsuit claimed.
The Camaro was declared "a total loss" as a result of the crash, the lawsuit claimed.

Born in Australia, Habul is the president and CEO of SunEnergy1, a solar developer.

The attorney representing H&L Chevrolet and Sebastian declined to comment on the ongoing litigation.