Two lawsuits seek $15 million from Tennessee bar for fatal crash

By Jim Greene

Published on June 09, 2006

Weldon Hatcher filed a wrongful death suit for $10 million this week, accusing employees at Michael's Restaurant and Bar of selling alcohol to his 20-year-old son Jonathan before he died in a crash about 6:00 a.m. on May 15. Jonathan's mother, Donna Loposser, had previously filed a suit for $5 million. The defendant is listed as "Michael's Promotions, Inc., and/or Knoxville Restaurant Entertainment Group, Inc."

Weldon Hatcher's suit claims that his son was filmed in an obviously intoxicated state at Michael's and that his condition led to the fatal crash of his 2001 two-door Ford Explorer Sport truck on a highway about 10 miles from the establishment.

Knoxville police reported that Jonathan Hatcher appeared to have sideswiped a guard rail while rounding a curve on the highway, causing his truck to flip several times down an embankment. They said he was apparently traveling too fast for the curve and overcorrected. They also said he was not wearing a seat belt and was partially ejected from his truck.

Hatcher's suit also claims that Michael's has received several citations for violating liquor sales regulations, including selling alcohol to underage drinkers.

The particulars of the suit filed by Loposser are similar to those in Hatcher's suit.

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