The parents of Zachary Hartwell, a passenger killed last June when “Jackass” star Ryan Dunn drove his Porsche off of Route 322 in West Chester, have filed a lawsuit in Philadelphia’s Court of Common Pleas against Dunn’s estate and Barnaby’s West Chester, the bar where the two men were allegedly drinking before the crash.
“Zachary Hartwell was a front seat passenger in the vehicle operated by
Ryan Dunn which was traveling on Route 322, also known as Pottstown
Pike, in a westbound direction when he suddenly, and without warning,
failed to negotiate a ramp and struck a guardrail which then caused the
vehicle to be steered off the roadway and strike a tree,” the complaint
reads.
The suit alleges that that Barnaby’s served Dunn even though he was visibly intoxicated and that the bar’s negligence, combined with Dunn’s “intoxicated state,” during which he drove recklessly, sped and failed to properly control his car, led to the crash that killed both Dunn and Hartwell.
Dunn’s behavior the night of June 20, 2011 was “outrageous, wanton, willful and done in reckless disregard for the safety of plaintiffs’ decedent Zachary Hartwell,” the complaint claims.
Hartwell’s parents are seeking punitive and compensatory wrongful death damages, including reimbursement for his funeral expenses, medical services and supplies, for the “anxiety, pre-impact fright, fear, pain and suffering” Hartwell experienced prior to his death, for his loss of earning power and the future wages he would have made during his lifetime, “as well as damages for the loss of value of life and life’s pleasures which have been denied as a result of his untimely death.”
