Arlington Heights

Family of Man Killed by Drunken Driver Sues Suburban Bars That Hosted Pub Crawl

Karaline Madigan and her son T.J. are still grieving.

Larry Madigan, Karaline's husband, was killed in February by a driver who had come off a pub crawl at three different suburban bars.

"When the officer told me that night ...I felt like the plug had been pulled and everything drained out of me," Karalin Madigan said. "He was the one who tried to ease pain when somebody else was sad."

Now Madigan’s family is taking not only the dead driver's family, but all three bars to court, saying they should have done more to keep that driver off the road.

"All three were called ahead--and there was an organizer--it was for a birthday, there were 50 or more people, there were T-shirts made so they were all recognizable," says attorney Jennifer Ashley.

The suit names Finn McCools of Crystal Lake, Peggy Kinnane's of Arlington Heights and Durty Nellie's of Palatine.

"He began drinking at approximately 2:30 in the afternoon on a Saturday at one bar, they were there maybe an hour or so, moved on to the next bar, there for an hour or so, moved on to the third bar," Ashley said. "So, where the intoxication happened its debatable, but we believe all three caused the intoxication because his blood alcohol was twice the legal limit."

Dram shop laws limit the amount Madigan's family can collect from any lawsuit, but they say this suit is about more than the money.

"People have to be held accountable. We are all held accountable for the choices that we make," T.J., Larry's son, said. "As a bar owner or a restaurant owner, when you offer alcohol and you are not serving it responsibly, you should be held accountable."

"We are saddened by what happened but we do take issue at being held liable," said Derek Hanley, who owns Peggy Kinnane's. "We train our staff on how to identify people who are intoxicated. We don’t have happy hours or drink packages stop prevent people from over indulging themselves. We take steps to make sure people like this get home safely."

Contact Us