FOLLY BEACH, S.C. — A groom whose new bride was killed hours after their wedding and injured him and two others in a DUI-involved crash is now filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the accused driver and several restaurants and bars in the area.
The newlyweds, Aric and Samantha Hutchinson, were being escorted from the reception in a golf cart when they were slammed from behind by a drunk driver.
The lawsuit filed against the accused driver, Jamie Lee Komoroski, alleges she had a “booze-filled day of bar hopping” and the restaurants and bars she visited should have "exercise[d] due care” in serving Komoroski alcohol.
The lawsuit names Komoroski and establishments Snapper Jacks, The Drop-In Bar and Deli, The Crab Shack, Taco Boy, El Gallo Bar and Grill, and Bottle Cap Holdings, LLC.
Court documents allege Komoroski started drinking at El Gallo Bar and Grill before going to Folly Beach and visiting several bars on Center Street.
“There’s still facts and a lot of questions that haven’t been answered, which is part of the reason we wanted to file the lawsuit, was to get into the formal discovery process where we and the families can get more definite answers to some of the questions that are still a little vague to us,” said attorney Danny Dalton.
In naming Taco Boy, the lawsuit states Komoroski had been an employee for a short time. The lawsuit alleges the restaurant was negligent by “organizing, arranging, and supervising an employee function/meeting knowing that excessive amounts of alcoholic beverages would be purchased for, served to, and/or consumed by the employees attending the function/meeting.”
“What our investigation yielded was that she had been an employee of [Taco Boy] for a short period of time, not very long, and that there was an almost routine gathering to go out to bars or a bar after their shifts or, you know, in the middle of their shifts or at different times, and their supervisors would also attend those gatherings or those events, call them what they were, and that she had attended this and that there was significant drinking at that event,” Dalton said. “And so, there’s a responsibility, especially when you have a supervisory role, but as an employer, to act responsibly in that role as employer and supervisor, and we felt that that was not done here and that it was breached.”
Komoroski is being charged with reckless homicide and three counts of DUI causing serious bodily injury/death, according to jail records.
The groom is now recovering from his injuries at his home, according to the fundraiser made by his family. One of his brothers still remains in the burn unit of the hospital.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Forensic Services Laboratory report, obtained by WCNC Charlotte, shows Komoroski had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.261%. It's illegal in South Carolina to operate a motor vehicle with a BAC of 0.08% or higher.