A tragic accident. But, in my humble lowly opinion, it wasn’t Madison Square Garden that GOT BEHIND THE WHEEL AND KILLED A TWO YEAR OLD.
C’mon people, it’s a massive arena with tens of thousands of people purchasing alcohol. Most places already stop serving in the 4th quarter/period. How about putting the blame where it belongs:
WITH A COP WHO THOUGHT HE WAS “ABOVE THE RULES” (LIKE SO MANY DO) AND KILLED A BEAUTIFUL CHILD AS A RESULT.
Great, M.S.G. has deep pockets, but does that make them responsible for the death? The cop did it, blame the cop, sue the cop, and throw his rear in jail for 30 years.
matt, I’m with you. I’ve always thought dram shop laws were ill-conceived.
The cop should get the harshest possible punishment. The family should sue the cop, not MSG. Unfortunately MSG will pay a few million on this one to settle.
I never agree with these lawsuits that blame the serving establishment. Its pretty easy to look sober while you are sitting on a barstool but much different when you get behind the wheel of your car. This case seems to be even worse because the drunk driver was part of the establishment charged with keeping the roads safe. A cop is certainly aware of the rules and knows the penalties for DUI. It may be a double standard, but I think Cops should face stiffer punishments when they commit crimes.
This is sad, but I agree with the rest of you. It is ridiculous that someone is able to sue the establishment that served the alcohol. The person responsible should be sued for everything they are worth. This is another case of an attorney going after the deep pockets establishment. No amount of money could bring this child back, so why sue for it. I guess I am just fed up with lawsuits against big companies, and the actual at-fault party avoiding blame (I realize they are probably named as well).
The cops I know are some of the biggest partiers in the world. They think nothing of drinking and driving because their fellow officers will protect them if they get pulled over. At worst they will be escorted home.
The police profession is rife with hard drinkers. Its hard to spend your life dealing with the dregs of humanity and the haunting images of children that have been abused, wives that have been beaten, victims of car accidents, etc. The alcohol takes the edge off.
We have no idea why they had their child out or how late it was when the accident occurred. I really don’t see the point. Is the person more dead because it was a child than an adult? Is the driver any less more of less reponsible because it was a child instead of an adult?
Sadly in NY the person who serves the drinks are held accountable. BUT, was it a vendor selling the beer to the cop or did one of his friends buy the beer?
Althoough in this case the officer did plead guilty without a trial, a child is till dead. As far as the parents keeping him out late at night, that was not the cause of this tragic event, let’s get real.
This should be an interessting trail proving who actually bought the beer and who did serve it. Was his only stop at the Garden or did he go elsewhere after the game?
How did this get to blaming the victim. This is not about a 2 year old being out late. What about the mother still in a comma. What if the dead child was 21. They are still dead and still just as tragic.
No, this one is on a cop who decided to disobey the laws he was sworn to uphold.
This one is on an adult who knew the potential consequences of his actions and chose to commit them anyway.
This one is on the person who should have been responsible enough to not drive drunk, the person who is responsible for a child’s death and who should be held accountable for his actions.
This one should not be on the victim or on an innocent third party who just happened to be selling a legal product.
I agree with you guys. In the end it was just an accident. Weather he was drunk or not doesnt really matter. This guy is a cop who risks his life everyday, having a few drinks at the game isnt the end of the world.
Everybody makes mistakes. They should just take his license a way for 6 months or something. even good police officers make mistakes some times, that why they call it an accident.
What’s really tragic is that so many here are blaming this on the parents for having their 2 year old out so late. Clearly not believers in personal responsibility. Its a shame.
I hope MSG doesn’t cave in and pay some ridiculous nuisance settlement. I want to see a Court fight and watch the money grubbing family lose and then (i dream) the Court orders the family to pay Court costs and the defense costs for MSG. While the loss is a tragedy it doesn’t mean this family is allowed to act like money grubbing pigs.
You have remoteness, heh? Well our courts have the deep pocket rule. He/she who has the deepest pockets, pays the price regardless of fault. It is quite a great systems (sarcasm emphasized!)
Well said, lastbat; I don’t know how anyone could see it any other way. I for one am tired of plaitiffs and their attorneys using tragedy for lining their pockets. No one wants to blame the tortfeasor because there is NO MONEY there; vicarious liability is a way to cast about and find someone who can share the blame and pay ALL of the award, usually someone, or something, with assets, like an insurance company. And then when the rates and premiums increase, the company is hit with all this “unfair” increases in premiums. Who does everyone think pays for these lawsuit, especially when most DON’T go to trial but are “s (as in smile) ettled”
I wonder how long it will be until the Beer companies get sued for these things. Miller and Anhueiser Bush certainly have deep pockets….and they know that their products impair drivers. If gun makers can get sued when their guns kill people why doesn’t some aggressive PI Lawyer take them on for a DUI death. It’s just a matter of time.
I would think that would be the logical move but I don’t know that anything would change. The tobacco lobby was successful in “settling” their lawsuits and are still marketing cigarettes, without admitting that their products are harmful; nothing works like money; so if Miller and Anheuser Busch end up in court, you can bet the settlement will forestall any attempts to create liability. The real problem, as I see it, is that not all judges have the same level of knowledge, skill or initiative to review lawsuits on their merits, and instead allow emotion to sway rulings, just like juries. If you ask me, unless you can demonstrate a direct casaul link, liability suits like this should be canned. In this case, without showing that a person at the Garden deliberately poured the beer down that man’s gullet until he was intoxicated and that there are many other witnesses, along with all kinds of other direct physical evidence, then the only person to be sued is the man who was drinking….and too bad that his estate has few assets for seizure. We could establish a guarantee fund of sorts but limit the payout to $250,000 in economic damages plus medical…
A cop is still a human being. Take the word cop out, and you have a person who was drunk who drove and killed a child. Senseless either way. No one, NO ONE, is above making a careless decision, whether it’s drinking and driving, or putting your foot in your mouth saying the wrong thing. Judge not lest ye be judged. You cannot bring back the child, but what if he was to grow up and support his family? There should be some monetary relief, but only from the convicted drivers insurance. As for the issue of serving drunks…I’m going to sue McDonald’s for serving me fries and making me fat to die of medical conditions sooner than I should…
Please use a bic lighter when you burn him so his family can sue a large multi-national corporation for making products that they should have known could hurt people. Imagine the gall of those people making a lighter that actually starts fires !!! His families lawyers will make the world safe again for flamable people everywhere….and get rich in the process.
I can’t believe some of the comments and thoughts posted on this. I am talking about the earlier postings, even before wanna be comedians chimed in.
A drunken man, 3 times the legal limit, rear ends a car. He kills a 2 year old and puts the mother in a coma for over a year.
Doesn’t matter the drunk was a cop or why the family was on the road late at night. This is clearly a tragedy and a crime.
Try using spell-check, if you want to imitate the slightest amount of credibility, because some of the postings don’t show any sense or intelligence.
MSG did not kill the child. The drunk cop killed the child. Since no amount of money will ever fix that there’s no need to sue MSG for millions. They can sue the person responsible (again, that’s the cop) and go from there.
SOME PEOPLE ARE NOT GETTING THIS..ITS NOT ABOUT THE FACT OF HIM BEING SERVED BEER..HE DRANK EXCESSIVE AMOUNTS AND KILLED AND RUINED A FAMILY. WHAT MONEY DOES HE HAVE TO OFFER,AS A CONVICTED EX COP..? BUT, IF YOU WATCHED THE NEWS..THE ATTY HAD STINGS CONDUCTED AND A MALE WHO LOOKED 15 AND WAS HALF THE SIZE OF THE COP, PURCHASED ABSURD AMOUNTS OF BEER WITHOUT I.D., WITHOUT END AND WITHIN INSANE TIME AMOUNTS IS A BIG BAD NO NO FOR THE CORPORATE GIANT…DONT BRAG ABOUT A POLICY UNLESS THEY ARE ADHEREING TO IT..NOW LETS TALK GREED…MORE MORE MORE…NOW ITS THE FAMILIES TURN..IF SOMEONE CUT OFF THE COP AND ESCORTED HIM OUT…WELL…A CHILD WOULD BE ALIVE…IDIOTIC POSTINGS AGAINST THE FAMILY WHO SUFFERED THIS LOSS ARE CHILDISH..
Anyone who has children knows that often times the best time to travel is at night when the child is sleeping – it’s no picnic restraining a child, having them cry/scream the entire trip and make the driver a little nuts… We parents shouldn’t have to limit our driving to the hours of 10:00am-4:00pm allowing drunks enough time to get the heck off the road and get home before they tie another one on… throw the friggen drunk under the jail (3 times the legal limit – give me a break!) Heck, we’re in the insurance biz – we have a reason to drink but do we drive drunk because insurance is stressful!
A tragic accident. But, in my humble lowly opinion, it wasn’t Madison Square Garden that GOT BEHIND THE WHEEL AND KILLED A TWO YEAR OLD.
C’mon people, it’s a massive arena with tens of thousands of people purchasing alcohol. Most places already stop serving in the 4th quarter/period. How about putting the blame where it belongs:
WITH A COP WHO THOUGHT HE WAS “ABOVE THE RULES” (LIKE SO MANY DO) AND KILLED A BEAUTIFUL CHILD AS A RESULT.
Great, M.S.G. has deep pockets, but does that make them responsible for the death? The cop did it, blame the cop, sue the cop, and throw his rear in jail for 30 years.
matt, I’m with you. I’ve always thought dram shop laws were ill-conceived.
The cop should get the harshest possible punishment. The family should sue the cop, not MSG. Unfortunately MSG will pay a few million on this one to settle.
I never agree with these lawsuits that blame the serving establishment. Its pretty easy to look sober while you are sitting on a barstool but much different when you get behind the wheel of your car. This case seems to be even worse because the drunk driver was part of the establishment charged with keeping the roads safe. A cop is certainly aware of the rules and knows the penalties for DUI. It may be a double standard, but I think Cops should face stiffer punishments when they commit crimes.
This is sad, but I agree with the rest of you. It is ridiculous that someone is able to sue the establishment that served the alcohol. The person responsible should be sued for everything they are worth. This is another case of an attorney going after the deep pockets establishment. No amount of money could bring this child back, so why sue for it. I guess I am just fed up with lawsuits against big companies, and the actual at-fault party avoiding blame (I realize they are probably named as well).
The cops I know are some of the biggest partiers in the world. They think nothing of drinking and driving because their fellow officers will protect them if they get pulled over. At worst they will be escorted home.
The police profession is rife with hard drinkers. Its hard to spend your life dealing with the dregs of humanity and the haunting images of children that have been abused, wives that have been beaten, victims of car accidents, etc. The alcohol takes the edge off.
If it’s that bad then the cops should a) drink at home or 2) change jobs. No excuse for killing a kid, or anyone else for that matter
What about the parents? Bringing a 2 year old to a late night basketball game?
This could have been forseen. There are many drunk people at these events. Its no place for a 2 year old. You have to take care of your kids.
It doesnt say the family was at the game with their child, just that the person who hit them was. They just happened to be on the same road.
I have an idea. How about MSG doesn’t serve alcohol! They know people attending an event and drinking will be driving once they leave the building.
A child should not be out late at night like that. Take care of your kids! Leave them home!
We have no idea why they had their child out or how late it was when the accident occurred. I really don’t see the point. Is the person more dead because it was a child than an adult? Is the driver any less more of less reponsible because it was a child instead of an adult?
Sadly in NY the person who serves the drinks are held accountable. BUT, was it a vendor selling the beer to the cop or did one of his friends buy the beer?
Althoough in this case the officer did plead guilty without a trial, a child is till dead. As far as the parents keeping him out late at night, that was not the cause of this tragic event, let’s get real.
This should be an interessting trail proving who actually bought the beer and who did serve it. Was his only stop at the Garden or did he go elsewhere after the game?
How did this get to blaming the victim. This is not about a 2 year old being out late. What about the mother still in a comma. What if the dead child was 21. They are still dead and still just as tragic.
AMEN, Confused!
Yes exactly!!
Who takes a 2 year old out at night with all the drunks on the road these days!
Its not safe, children can be seriously injured even in a minor accident.
MSG should be sued for everything its worth anyway though – Just becasue the Nicks are aweful!
The bottom line is if the cop had NOT been drunk then nobody would have lost their life!
Maybe if the cop wasnt so stressed out from saving us from the bad guys and risking his life he wouldnt have been drunk.
This one is on MSG and the parents who had a little 2 year old out so late.
No, this one is on a cop who decided to disobey the laws he was sworn to uphold.
This one is on an adult who knew the potential consequences of his actions and chose to commit them anyway.
This one is on the person who should have been responsible enough to not drive drunk, the person who is responsible for a child’s death and who should be held accountable for his actions.
This one should not be on the victim or on an innocent third party who just happened to be selling a legal product.
I agree with you guys. In the end it was just an accident. Weather he was drunk or not doesnt really matter. This guy is a cop who risks his life everyday, having a few drinks at the game isnt the end of the world.
Everybody makes mistakes. They should just take his license a way for 6 months or something. even good police officers make mistakes some times, that why they call it an accident.
Mistake???
A mistake is 1 + 1 = 3 …. Not getting behind the wheel after drinking!
What’s really tragic is that so many here are blaming this on the parents for having their 2 year old out so late. Clearly not believers in personal responsibility. Its a shame.
I hope MSG doesn’t cave in and pay some ridiculous nuisance settlement. I want to see a Court fight and watch the money grubbing family lose and then (i dream) the Court orders the family to pay Court costs and the defense costs for MSG. While the loss is a tragedy it doesn’t mean this family is allowed to act like money grubbing pigs.
You have remoteness, heh? Well our courts have the deep pocket rule. He/she who has the deepest pockets, pays the price regardless of fault. It is quite a great systems (sarcasm emphasized!)
Well said, lastbat; I don’t know how anyone could see it any other way. I for one am tired of plaitiffs and their attorneys using tragedy for lining their pockets. No one wants to blame the tortfeasor because there is NO MONEY there; vicarious liability is a way to cast about and find someone who can share the blame and pay ALL of the award, usually someone, or something, with assets, like an insurance company. And then when the rates and premiums increase, the company is hit with all this “unfair” increases in premiums. Who does everyone think pays for these lawsuit, especially when most DON’T go to trial but are “s (as in smile) ettled”
I wonder how long it will be until the Beer companies get sued for these things. Miller and Anhueiser Bush certainly have deep pockets….and they know that their products impair drivers. If gun makers can get sued when their guns kill people why doesn’t some aggressive PI Lawyer take them on for a DUI death. It’s just a matter of time.
I would think that would be the logical move but I don’t know that anything would change. The tobacco lobby was successful in “settling” their lawsuits and are still marketing cigarettes, without admitting that their products are harmful; nothing works like money; so if Miller and Anheuser Busch end up in court, you can bet the settlement will forestall any attempts to create liability. The real problem, as I see it, is that not all judges have the same level of knowledge, skill or initiative to review lawsuits on their merits, and instead allow emotion to sway rulings, just like juries. If you ask me, unless you can demonstrate a direct casaul link, liability suits like this should be canned. In this case, without showing that a person at the Garden deliberately poured the beer down that man’s gullet until he was intoxicated and that there are many other witnesses, along with all kinds of other direct physical evidence, then the only person to be sued is the man who was drinking….and too bad that his estate has few assets for seizure. We could establish a guarantee fund of sorts but limit the payout to $250,000 in economic damages plus medical…
A cop is still a human being. Take the word cop out, and you have a person who was drunk who drove and killed a child. Senseless either way. No one, NO ONE, is above making a careless decision, whether it’s drinking and driving, or putting your foot in your mouth saying the wrong thing. Judge not lest ye be judged. You cannot bring back the child, but what if he was to grow up and support his family? There should be some monetary relief, but only from the convicted drivers insurance. As for the issue of serving drunks…I’m going to sue McDonald’s for serving me fries and making me fat to die of medical conditions sooner than I should…
The fact is, I heard the kid was crying all the time and never ate his vegetables. I really dont have much sympathy.
You need to burn in Hades for saying such a horrendous thing, whether it was meant to be funny or not. It wasn’t.
You’re sick. Where are you when all the drunk drivers are on the road? Hopefully right in their path.
Please use a bic lighter when you burn him so his family can sue a large multi-national corporation for making products that they should have known could hurt people. Imagine the gall of those people making a lighter that actually starts fires !!! His families lawyers will make the world safe again for flamable people everywhere….and get rich in the process.
I can’t believe some of the comments and thoughts posted on this. I am talking about the earlier postings, even before wanna be comedians chimed in.
A drunken man, 3 times the legal limit, rear ends a car. He kills a 2 year old and puts the mother in a coma for over a year.
Doesn’t matter the drunk was a cop or why the family was on the road late at night. This is clearly a tragedy and a crime.
Try using spell-check, if you want to imitate the slightest amount of credibility, because some of the postings don’t show any sense or intelligence.
MSG did not kill the child. The drunk cop killed the child. Since no amount of money will ever fix that there’s no need to sue MSG for millions. They can sue the person responsible (again, that’s the cop) and go from there.
SOME PEOPLE ARE NOT GETTING THIS..ITS NOT ABOUT THE FACT OF HIM BEING SERVED BEER..HE DRANK EXCESSIVE AMOUNTS AND KILLED AND RUINED A FAMILY. WHAT MONEY DOES HE HAVE TO OFFER,AS A CONVICTED EX COP..? BUT, IF YOU WATCHED THE NEWS..THE ATTY HAD STINGS CONDUCTED AND A MALE WHO LOOKED 15 AND WAS HALF THE SIZE OF THE COP, PURCHASED ABSURD AMOUNTS OF BEER WITHOUT I.D., WITHOUT END AND WITHIN INSANE TIME AMOUNTS IS A BIG BAD NO NO FOR THE CORPORATE GIANT…DONT BRAG ABOUT A POLICY UNLESS THEY ARE ADHEREING TO IT..NOW LETS TALK GREED…MORE MORE MORE…NOW ITS THE FAMILIES TURN..IF SOMEONE CUT OFF THE COP AND ESCORTED HIM OUT…WELL…A CHILD WOULD BE ALIVE…IDIOTIC POSTINGS AGAINST THE FAMILY WHO SUFFERED THIS LOSS ARE CHILDISH..
Anyone who has children knows that often times the best time to travel is at night when the child is sleeping – it’s no picnic restraining a child, having them cry/scream the entire trip and make the driver a little nuts… We parents shouldn’t have to limit our driving to the hours of 10:00am-4:00pm allowing drunks enough time to get the heck off the road and get home before they tie another one on… throw the friggen drunk under the jail (3 times the legal limit – give me a break!) Heck, we’re in the insurance biz – we have a reason to drink but do we drive drunk because insurance is stressful!