`Driver, bars sued over death`

By Hal Johnson
Herald Writer

The estate of a Farrell man killed more than a year ago in a car crash has sued the driver of the car and three area bars the dead man and the driver visited the day of the fatal crash.

The estate of the late Ricky David Passaro filed the suit in Mercer County Common Pleas Court against Joseph Lunich, Masury; Our Gang’s Lounge, Sharon; Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5286, Farrell; and Margarita’s, Masury, and its owner, Margaret Estergren.

Passaro died of injuries he suffered Nov. 22, 1997, when the car Lunich was driving crashed into a steel utility pole at about 8 p.m. along East Connelly Boulevard at South Sharpsville Avenue. Sharon police said Lunich and another passenger took Passaro home after the accident. When they arrived at Passaro’s Farrell home, an ambulance was called to take Passaro to UPMC Horizon, Farrell, where he was pronounced dead the next day, the criminal complaint said.

Lunich pleaded guilty to a charge of vehicular homicide and has been paroled after serving a 3-month sentence in Mercer County Jail. Lunich was not charged with drunken driving.

However, the wrongful death lawsuit, filed by Doris Domingue, administrator of Passaro’s estate, said Lunich left all three bars visibly intoxicated and should not have been served or allowed to leave the bars. The last bar Lunich and Passaro left prior to the crash was Our Gang’s Lounge, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit claims Lunich’s reckless driving and the serving of liquor to him by the three bars resulted in pain and suffering, a loss of wages Passaro could have earned if he lived, and burial expenses.

During the Sept. 30 sentencing, Mercer County Common Pleas Court Judge Thomas R. Dobson ordered Lunich to pay a total of more than $1,000 restitution to the estate for medical and burial expenses.

Assistant District Attorney Lorinda Hinch said there is no criminal statute governing bars or bartenders serving intoxicated persons. State liquor laws would apply in those cases, Ms. Hinch said.

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Updated January 5, 1999
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