22-year-old held in man's death - Police say he ran down victim in Mesa bar's parking lot after fight

by Allison Oswalt - Mar. 18, 2011 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

A 22-year-old man accused of running down and killing a Mesa man near Southern Avenue and Dobson Road was arrested Wednesday on charges of second-degree murder, police said.

The victim, who has been identified as 29-year-old Antoine Beaty of Mesa, was pronounced dead at a hospital on Wednesday.

Mesa police arrested Derrick M. Antone, who admitted that he had not planned on running the victim over but only "hit him to see him fly out of the way."

The Wednesday incident at Uncle Monkey's bar in Mesa began around 2:45 a.m. as Antone was leaving the bar with several friends, police said.

Beaty asked Antone for a ride home from the bar, and Antone agreed because one of Antone's female friends wanted to "hook up" with Beaty, police said.

Beaty began arguing with one of the women and started assaulting her and another woman in the vehicle, police said.

After Antone and Beaty got out of the van and started to fight in the parking lot, the two women pulled out lug wrenches and began hitting the victim, police said.

Beaty responded by throwing rocks at the two women and then ran away, police said.

Police said Antone and the two women got back into the van with the intent to hit Beaty.

Antone told police that he did not want to hurt Beaty seriously but that he estimated he had accelerated to 35 mph while chasing him.

Police said that Antone said he ran over a curb and lost control of the vehicle, hitting a pole.

He told police he was unaware he had hit Beaty, police said.

Beaty was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police said that video surveillance shows the van driving in deliberate circles after hitting the curb and does not appear to be "out of control."

Antone was booked on charges of second-degree murder, failure to stop at an accident involving a death and extreme DUI.

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DRAM SHOP AWARD:

by John Pirro, Staff Writer - Thursday, March 10, 2011

DANBURY -- A lawsuit against a Candlewood Lake bar stemming from a July 2008 drunken boating accident that killed two people and injured two others has been settled without trial.

Lawyers representing Down the Hatch in Brookfield, and three of the victims -- Jason Wanat, Kevin Sullivan and William D'Addio -- agreed to the settlement Tuesday, the day that jury selection in the case had been scheduled to begin in state Superior Court.

Because of a confidentiality agreement, the amount of the settlement was not disclosed. But the state's Dram Shop Act, under which the lawsuit was filed, limits damage awards to $250,000 to be divided among all parties.

Wanat, who was killed, and Sullivan, who was critically injured, were passengers in the speedboat operated by Richard Layton Jr. that collided with D'Addio's bass boat shortly after they left the lake side bar in Brookfield.

Layton, who state Department of Environmental Protection police said had a blood-alcohol level of .19, more than twice the legal limit, was also killed in the crash.

The suit claimed employees of the bar continued to serve Layton alcohol even though he was clearly intoxicated.

"I can't talk about the numbers, but I believe all the parties were satisfied that the matter has been settled," said Danbury attorney David Bennett, who represents Sullivan.

Citing the confidentiality agreement, who represented Wanat's estate, declined to comment other than to confirm the case had been resolved.

Attorneys for D'Addio and Down the Hatch couldn't be reached Wednesday and neither could Scott Parente, permittee at Down the Hatch. The restaurant is closed for the season and two Brookfield telephone numbers listed for Parente weren't in service.

Although D'Addio, Sullivan and the Wanat estate were on the same side during the Danbury case, they are opposing parties in a much larger and more complex lawsuit pending at state Superior Court in Waterbury.

In that case, the Wanat estate and Sullivan are suing D'Addio and more than 70 other defendants, including the Candlewood Lake Authority, members of the Candlewood Lake Patrol, the New York bass fishing club that sponsored the fishing tournament in which D'Addio was a participant when the collision occurred and the municipalities bordering the lake. That case is far from ready for trial, the attorneys said.

Michael Zenner - CEO      
Eye Spy Spotter Services Inc.
eyespyspotter.com
bartheft.com  (blog)
Hospitality Checkpoint PLLC
PI Lic. 1597616
hospitalitycheckpoint.com
liquorassessment.com
PO BOX 995 Gilbert AZ 85299
Office: 480-777-7056
Toll Free: 800-880-0811

© Eye Spy Spotter Services Inc. 2010

DRAM SHOP AWARD:

By DAVID OWENS,The Hartford Courant

HARTFORD — A jury has returned a $16.8 million verdict against a Hartford bar, its owner and a drunken driver who seriously injured two state troopers in 2008.

The Superior Court jury on Thursday awarded the damages to James LaPlante, a trooper who was forced to take a disability retirement as a result of the injuries he suffered when Ivan Vasquez Jr.'s 1984 Ford pickup truck careened into him and another trooper, who were out of their cars, near I-84's Asylum Avenue exit.

LaPlante, of Vernon, suffered a fractured right knee that was put back together with seven screws and a metal plate, a lower back injury that resulted in bulging discs, a sprained ankle and an injured left knee, said his lawyer, Timothy Brignole of Hartford.

Brignole, of the Brignole, Bush and Lewis law firm, sued Vasquez and the bar where he drank before the crash on July 19, 2008.

After seven days of testimony, jurors found Piggy's Café on Hawthorne Street in Hartford and its owner, Joseph A. Malick Jr., liable and awarded LaPlante $4.2 million. The jury found that Vasquez's conduct was reckless and tripled the damages against him to $12.6 million.

The injuries not only forced LaPlante into a disability retirement, but he has incurred nearly $100,000 in medical expenses and lost that much in salary, Brignole said.

Brignole said he presented the jury with evidence that Vasquez drank at least 11 beers and had a blood-alcohol level of .177 when he left the bar. At the time of the crash his blood alcohol content was .146. The legal limit is .08.

"The jury sent a message to only the bars but to drunk drivers that they will be held accountable and responsible when they injure … state troopers," Brignole said.

Ted Hieser of Essex, the lawyer for Piggy's and Malick, said the judge will reduce the jury award to $250,000, the amount he said is permitted under the state's dram shop act. The law limits the liability of bars.

Brignole said he intends to challenge that and pursue the full amount of the verdict for LaPlante.

Vasquez did not appear to defend himself in the trial.

He was found guilty in June 2009 of drunken driving and two counts of second-degree assault with a motor vehicle, given an eight-year suspended jail sentence and placed on probation for five years. He had a public defender in his criminal case.

Michael Zenner - CEO      
Eye Spy Spotter Services Inc.
eyespyspotter.com
bartheft.com  (blog)
Hospitality Checkpoint PLLC
PI Lic. 1597616
hospitalitycheckpoint.com
liquorassessment.com
PO BOX 995 Gilbert AZ 85299
Office: 480-777-7056
Toll Free: 800-880-0811

© Eye Spy Spotter Services Inc. 2010