Lawsuit Filed after Stolen Car Involved in Wrong-Way Crash

A New Jersey resident who was severely injured in a crash involving a stolen car has sued the driver’s mother and the bar that served drinks to the driver before the accident.

Around 6 pm on August 16, Ashley Sara Chieco, 26, drove the wrong way on Route 18, crashing into an oncoming car driven by Dana Corar, 55, and killing herself.

She had reportedly been drinking vodka at Martell’s Tiki Bar in Point Pleasant Beach from 11:07 in the morning until around 5 pm. Her blood-alcohol level was .189 — more than twice the New Jersey legal limit of .08 — when she crashed.

Chieco had lost 30 pounds in the months before the crash, and a friend told police that she ate only two cocktail shrimp – from another patron’s plate — during the time she was drinking.

Corrar’s attorney claims that Chieco’s high blood alcohol level shows that she was visibly intoxicated and thus that the bar should not have continued to serve her.

Chieco left the bar in an SUV she found in the parking lot that did not belong to her but which was similar to her own vehicle. The drivers of the stolen SUV told police that the bar’s valet staff told them to leave their keys in their vehicle.

Chieco had traveled to the bar in a friend’s car. Her own SUV was still in her parents’ driveway.

Corrar was severely injured in the accident, with fractures to both legs and ankles, injuries to her spine, and a punctured lung. She spent three weeks in the hospital, where she had five surgeries, followed by time in a rehabilitation center. She now walks with a cane.

Insurance companies have refused to pay Corrar’s medical bills for her stay at the rehabilitation center, saying it wasn’t “medically necessary,” but Geico has agreed to reimburse her for her totaled car.

If you’ve suffered a serious personal injury in New Jersey due to someone else’s negligence or recklessness, contact an experienced Jersey City personal injury attorney at the law firm of Law Offices of Jeffrey S. Hasson, P.C.