MEDIA – A recent case management order states a Delaware County courtroom will hear the case of man who was seriously injured in a car accident nearly three years ago after patronizing a local tavern, and who subsequently sued the establishment and its ownership for negligence.
Frank Yacona of Linwood initially filed suit in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas on July 20, 2016, against Copley’s and Copley’s Café & Tavern, Inc., both of Boothwyn and the tavern property owner, Chichester Real Estate Ventures, of Philadelphia.
“On or about July 25 and 26, 2014, plaintiff was an invitee at Copley’s and/or Copley’s Café & Tavern, Inc. The defendants individually and/or by and through their agents, servants, workmen or employees, willfully and unlawfully served and/or made available to the plaintiff, [Frank] Yacona, alcohol, liquor, malt and brewed beverages, caused the plaintiff to become inebriated and visibly intoxicated, and while he was in a visibly intoxicated and inebriated condition, continued to serve…him in violation of the statutes and law of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, including, but not limited to, the Liquor Code,” the lawsuit states.
Yacona says he was permitted to leave Copley’s in his car while in an intoxicated state. As a result, at approximately 5:40 a.m., his vehicle left the roadway, went into a grass median, re-entered the roadway and crossed both lanes of the westbound Washington Street Extension in Wilmington, Del., before crashing into a guardrail and rolling.
The plaintiff alleges the defendants’ negligence in failing to detect his intoxication and prevent his driving under the influence of alcohol caused him to sustain serious injuries in the resultant car accident, including brain injury, headaches, plus neck and back injuries.
After a volley of preliminary objections and answers between the parties spanning August 2016 to January 2017, the last of which concerned the proper venue of the case, Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas Judge Denis P. Cohen granted an order on Jan. 23 last year to transfer the case to the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas.
After a lack of action for approximately one year following that decision, the scheduling order was issued by Delaware County Judge G. Michael Green. In it, Green states that trial in this matter is scheduled for a four-week term commencing on March 4, 2019.
For counts of negligence, the plaintiff is seeking damages, jointly and severally, including punitive damages, in excess of $50,000 and in excess of the court’s arbitration limits, in this matter.
The plaintiff is represented by Thomas F. Sacchetta of Sacchetta & Baldino, in Media.
The defendants are represented by J. Fred Lorusso of Zarwin Baum DeVito Kaplan Schaer Toddy, in Philadelphia.
Delaware County Court of Common Pleas case 2017-002350
Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas case 160701917
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nickpennrecord@gmail.com