HARTFORD, Conn. _ Katherine Berman, the wife of ESPN personality Chris Berman, was served alcohol even though she was intoxicated shortly before a car crash that killed her and a Waterbury man, a lawsuit filed against a Woodbury bar charges.
The family of Edward Bertulis, killed in the 2017 crash, filed the lawsuit against the Market Place Kitchen & Bar.
Filed in Litchfield Superior Court, the suit alleges that restaurant employees served alcohol to Berman on May 9, 2017, while she was intoxicated. The lawsuit is seeking more than $50,000 from the restaurant and its owner, Elias Hawli. It was filed under a state statute known as the Dram Shop Act, a law that holds an establishment that serves an intoxicated person liable if the patron leaves the establishment and causes death or injury.
State police say they are still investigating the crash and haven't released a final report. The state medical examiner's office ruled Berman's death was an accident and said she died from blunt trauma and drowning. It declined to release toxicology results.
The lawsuit alleges that Berman left the Market Place at about 2:15 p.m. and drove while intoxicated onto Sherman Hill Road, a short distance away from the restaurant, and was following immediately behind the car operated by Bertulis "when, in consequence of her intoxication, she suddenly and without warning slammed into the rear end of Mr. Bertulis car."
The 2003 Lexus SC 430 driven by Berman hit the rear of the 2003 Ford Escape driven by Bertulis, veered off the road and down an embankment and overturned in a small body of water, state police said. The Ford struck a utility pole and flipped, landing on its roof. Bertulis wasn't wearing a seat belt and was partially thrown from his car, state police said.
The lawsuit doesn't specify how many drinks that Berman was served at the restaurant that day.
New Milford attorney Phillip Spillane, who is representing the Bertulis family, declined to comment on the lawsuit. West Hartford Attorney Francis Paola, who is representing the restaurant owner, declined to comment Monday on the lawsuit. Neither Katherine Berman nor her estate are named in the lawsuit.
Bertulis had just left a cemetery where he was visiting his wife's grave. His family members said his daily routine included a visit to her gravestone since her death in 2015.
