The parents of a South Jordan man who was killed in a collision with a woman on Interstate 215 are suing for the pub where she allegedly was drinking before the crash.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Utah's 3rd District Court, claims Piper Down Pub provided the drinks to patron Chanel S. Nielsen that caused her to become intoxicated March 25 and continued to serve her when the bar should have known she was under the influence.
According to the lawsuit, Nielsen left the pub at 1492 S. State St. in Salt Lake City in a "severely intoxicated state."
Within minutes, the Sandy woman entered the Interstate 15 off-ramp and began traveling south in the northbound lanes, according to the suit. She then took an off-ramp onto I-215 and drove east in the westbound lanes until she slammed head-on into a car being driven by 27-year-old Michael Winston McMillian Jr.
As Nielsen entered I-15 at 5300 South, Utah Highway Patrol units followed on the opposite side of the freeway with their light bars and sirens activated, trying to get her attention.
Nielsen, however, continued driving and got onto I-215, where her Mazda hatchback hit McMillian's Subaru station wagon near 1700 East, a UHP spokesman said.
At the time of the crash, Nielsen was driving an estimated 80 mph and McMillian was traveling about 65 mph, the suit claims. Nielsen was pronounced dead at the scene. "Mikey" McMillian was taken to Intermountain Medical Center, where he died March 27 from his injuries.
The wrongful death suit alleges Nielsen had a blood alcohol level six times the legal limit of 0.08.
Club Ozone, the corporation doing business as Piper Down, is named as defendant. Owner David Morris said Wednesday he could not comment because the matter is in litigation.
The plaintiffs — McMillian's mother, Janalee Somsen McMillian, and his father, Michael W. McMillian, individually and as representatives of their son's estate — are seeking an unspecified amount of money for pain and suffering, property damage, the cost of medical treatment provided in the time before McMillian died and funeral expenses.
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