The woman says a Trenton nightclub overserved her husband before he crashed his car off the road and died last year.
TRENTON - A woman claims a local bar is to blame for overserving her husband alcoholic drinks before he got in a car, drove off the road and died in a fiery crash nearly a year ago.
Etoria Highsmith filed a lawsuit last month in Mercer County Superior Court against the Candlelight Lounge, a popular Trenton Jazz bar on Passaic Street. In the suit Highsmith blames the bar for the death of Robert Highsmith, her husband and the father of her child.
In the suit Etoria Highsmith said her husband went to the Candlelight Lounge around 10 p.m. in late February of last year. Over the next three hours, bartenders served Robert Highsmith multiple drinks, even though he was visibly intoxicated, the suit said.
Etoria Highsmith's attorney, Michael van der Veen said he didn't know how many drinks Robert Highsmith had been served but that a witness claimed Highsmith was slurring his speech, losing his balance and had bloodshot eyes.
Around 1:15 a.m. Robert Highsmith left the bar and employees made no attempt to stop him, the suit said.
He got in his car and drove around 20 miles south, heading home to Willingboro. But on Rancocas Road something went wrong - Robert Highsmith drove off the side of the road and struck a tree, the suit said. His car went up in flames and Highsmith burned to death inside.
An autopsy showed that Robert Highsmith's blood alcohol content was .18 or twice the legal limit to drive in New Jersey, van der Veen said.
"This was a horrible and tragic and senseless death that could have easily been prevented," he added.
Etoria Highsmith claims the Candlelight Lounge was to blame for over-serving Highsmith and letting him drive when he was clearly drunk, the suit says.
"The Candlelight Lounge is a bar that recklessly overserves alcohol for a large profit," van der Veen said. He added that they did not name a bartender in the suit because he believes the lounge itself is responsible.
A representative from the lounge did not immediately answer or return a call Thursday afternoon.
The Candlelight Lounge is a popular jazz club in Trenton but it has also been the site of multiple crimes in the past few years. In a more well-known case, police said two men beat a corrections officer in the lounge's parking lot. The officer shot and killed one of the men.
Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.