Anthony's Restaurant & Pub Slapped With Lawsuit

JOLIET, IL - By all accounts, 2017 was a rough year for Anthony's Restaurant & Pub in terms of the bar's reputation. Anthony's was the scene of numerous calls to the Joliet Police Department. There were early morning shootings with customers being sprayed by errant rounds of gunfire. And there were several alcohol-fueled fist fights in the parking lot. Finally, enough was enough and officials at Joliet's City Hall intervened. They forced Anthony's to close earlier on weekends and eliminate their live entertainment. Now it appears that Anthony's won't be able to escape all of its troubles from 2017 so fast.

J.W. Mitchell, a Chicago attorney with Mitchell Hoffman & Wolf recently filed a civil lawsuit at the Will County Courthouse against Anthony's Restaurant & Pub, 3151 Voyager Lane. The lawsuit notes that Anthony's is licensed to sell alcohol and must adhere to the state's dram shop laws. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Kiara Garcia and it accuses Anthony's servers of selling alcohol to an underage patron, Lorraine Szymankowski, 20, "which she consumed on said premises causing her to become intoxicated," the lawsuit states.

Lorraine Szymankowski, Feb. 25, 2017

The night in question was Feb. 24-25, 2017, the lawsuit states.

On Feb. 25, 2017, Garcia rode in a car driven by Szymankowski, heading northbound on Weber Road, near Renwick Road in Lockport Township, the suit states.

According to the lawsuit, "the alcoholic liquors consumed at the Defendant's tavern by Lorraine Szymankowski caused her to become intoxicated, and while intoxicated and as a result of her intoxication, the vehicle she was operating and in which (Garcia) was a passenger, violently collided with the rear end of a stopped vehicle on Weber Road."

Garcia, her lawyer informed the court, sustained injuries as a result of the car crash that has resulted in lost wages, medical expenses, "pain and suffering and physical and emotional trauma of a permanent and lasting nature."

As for Szymankowski, she was booked into the Will County Jail at 3:59 a.m. last Feb. 25. She was charged with two counts of driving under the influence of alcohol and a third charge, consumption of alcohol by a minor. The Romeoville resident lives in the 1700 block of Chaucer Court.

On Jan. 26, Szymankowski, now 21, pleaded guilty to one of her DUI charges under a plea agreement. She is scheduled to be sentenced today, Feb. 23, in Courtroom 314, according to court records.

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Main image via Joliet Patch files, mugshot of Lorraine Szymankowski via Will County Sheriff's Department