South Jersey Cop Says He Drank Beer That Nearly Killed Him; Court Will Hear Case

It took only one sip of draft beer at a N.J. restaurant for retired Lt. Richard Washart to believe that he had been poisoned.

But the former cop still couldn’t believe how close he came to death as a result of drinking beer drawn from a tap system line that may have contained a powerful caustic cleaning solution, according to a news release from Washart’s attorney, D’Amato Law Firm.

Now the New Jersey court have agreed to hear the lawsuit he's filed against a restaurant in Atlantic City, which has denied being responsible for the Washart's injuries.

The Seaville man is suing the restaurant, McCormick & Schmick’s which is located at the Harrah’s casino in Atlantic City, claiming he was served beer tainted by a caustic agent used to clean beer tap lines, according to PIX11. Harrah’s is not a defendant in the suit.

“I will never forget November 6, 2012, and how one minute we’re celebrating the success of our emergency medical services operation at the restaurant and then I’m violently throwing up blood, my mouth and stomach are burning, and I’m then hospitalized for one week,” Washart, an Ocean City Police Department veteran of 25 years, said in the news release.

He said that, in his 25 years of police work, and during my time as a paramedic, he never saw anything "like what happened to me at McCormick & Schmick’s in Harrah’s Atlantic City."

Washart continues to receive regular treatment for his injuries that includes the erosion of about 25 percent of his stomach lining, according to his doctors.

Determined to ensure that what happened to him never happens to another patron of any restaurant or bar, Washart retained the D’Amato Law Firm to investigate the events that led to his “poisoning and hold those responsible fully accountable,” according to the news release.

“Based on our investigation, and reflected in the complaint,” said Paul D’Amato, “we determined that Mr. Washart was seriously sickened and permanently injured due to the fact that the beer tap system at McCormick & Schmick’s was improperly maintained.”

In the news release, D’Amato said the restaurant failed to purge the highly toxic cleaning solution from the line through which Washart’s draft beer was allegedly poured.”

“It was a poisoning waiting to happen and randomly it happened to Richard Washart,” he said.

“I will never forget, not just the incredible burning sensation from my mouth to my stomach, but also being told how I could have died from drinking that beer,” he said in the relase.. “Two years and countless doctor visits later, I only wish it were a bad dream. It is a nightmare with which I live every day.”

Patch file photo