Surviving Victim in Fatal Crash Sues Bar Where Other Driver Drank

Edgar Lopez, who was seriously injured in a crash that killed his ex-wife, Reyda LaMadrid, is suing White Plains bar and restaurant Brother Jimmy’s BBQ for allegedly serving too much alcohol to White Plains firefighter Erik Refvik, the driver of the car that crashed into Lopez and LaMadrid.

The Journal News reports that Lopez filed the lawsuit on April 14. Brother Jimmy’s BBQ was not listed by prosecutors among the bars where Refvik drank before the fatal crash, but The Brazen Fox, Hudson Grille, Copper Face Jacks and Black Bear were listed.

Related:

• White Plains Firefighter Arraigned on Vehicular Homicide Charges
• White Plains Firefighter Charged with DWI in Crash that Killed Port Chester Woman

“The way the law is written in New York State is that we have to be able to prove that the establishment served someone who is knowingly intoxicated, meaning that they continued to serve someone after the point where they became visibly intoxicated,” Lopez’s attorney, William Cooper, told The Journal News. “We wanted to focus on who we felt was the appropriate defendant.”

Refvik, who was driving the wrong way on South Lexington Avenue in White Plains in the early morning hours of Nov. 3, 2014, slammed head-on into Lopez’s car at 65 miles per hour. LaMadrid was a passenger, and the two were delivering newspapers at the time.

Click here to read the full story on The Journal News website.

Photo: Erik Refvik. Photo credit: Westchester County District Attorney’s office

Subscribe to a free email newsletter and news alerts:

BEDFORD-KATONAH • BRONXVILLE-EASTCHESTER-TUCKAHOE • CHAPPAQUA-MOUNT KISCO • HARRISON • LARCHMONT-MAMARONECK • NANUET • NEW CITY • NEW ROCHELLE • NYACK-PIERMONT • OSSINING-CROTON • PEARL RIVER • PEEKSKILL-CORTLANDT • PELHAM • PORT CHESTER • PLEASANTVILLE-BRIARCLIFF • RIVERTOWNS • RYE • SCARSDALE • SOUTHEST-BREWSTER • TARRYTOWN-SLEEPY HOLLOW • WHITE PLAINS • YORKTOWN-SOMERS