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Businesses, driver sued in fatal accident By Chris Bristol The adult children of an Ashland woman killed in a drunken driving crash two years ago are suing the driver and two establishments that served him alcohol on the night of the crash. Bonnie L. Ryan, 47, died Dec. 16, 1999, when she was ejected from a pickup truck that flipped over on Tolman Creek Road. The driver, Kenneth James Brown, 42, was later sentenced to two years in prison for his role in the accident. Ryan�s children, Jamaal and Bianca Ryan, are now suing Brown and two Ashland businesses � the Wild Goose Cafe & Bar and a nearby AM/PM convenience store � for $2 million in damages. The lawsuit claims Brown, on the night of the crash, was negligently served alcohol at the Wild Goose after he became visibly intoxicated, and that he bought alcohol at the nearby AM/PM later the same night. Both businesses were investigated by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission in connection with the accident. The liquor commission can impose fines and even revoke an establishment�s liquor license if it finds that "visibly intoxicated" customers were served alcohol. "When we looked into it, there were no eyewitnesses willing to come forward," OLCC agent Brian Schmitz explained. "We couldn�t prove any charges." Dal Carver, the owner of the Wild Goose, denied his employees were to blame. Attempts to contact the owner of the AM/PM, identified by plaintiffs as Three H Corp., were unsuccessful. "We had no fault in it at all," Carver said. "We did absolutely nothing wrong." According to police reports on the crash, Ryan was riding with Brown when he lost control of his 1993 Chevy Silverado and it overturned into a ditch. Ryan was ejected in the crash and died from massive head and chest injuries when the truck landed on her. Police concluded she had not been wearing a seat belt. Brown suffered only minor scratches in the accident. He was later convicted of criminally negligent homicide (reduced from second-degree manslaughter). He was sentenced to two years and three months in prison. It wasn�t his first run-in with the law, having been convicted of first-degree sexual abuse in 1991, according to court records. He also had a number of traffic convictions on his record � as did Ryan, who was convicted of drunken driving in 1993 and 1997. Ryan attorney Ron Grensky declined to comment on the merits of the suit. He said Jamaal and Bianca Ryan are attending college in Eugene. Reach reporter Chris Bristol at 776-4487, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.