SAN ANTONIO — A newly filed lawsuit seeking a jury trial alleges that employees at multiple St. Mary's Strip bars overserved a customer in July before he later caused a wrong-way crash, killing an off-duty Bexar County sheriff's deputy and her friend.
The suit was filed on behalf of the father of Koree Alcoser, who was sitting in the backseat at the time of the crash. Meredith Portillo, a 20-year-old sheriff's deputy, was killed in what the suit called a "severe and devastating" collision, while a third passenger was severely hurt.
Fidel Rodriguez Jr. with Rodriguez Trial Law represents Koree's father, Lawrence Alcoser.
"For Lawrence and his family, this has been devastating," said Rodriguez. "He and Koree had not seen each other a lot in the last couple of years, but Lawrence had always hoped that they could get back together and rebuild their relationship."
Rodriguez believes the wrong-way driver, Jorge Luis Pargas Jr., was "highly intoxicated" when he killed Meredith and Koree.
Pargas, 28, was also killed in that crash around 2 a.m. on July 21, when authorities say he swerved into wrong-way traffic of Interstate 37 near Southton Road. The lawsuit filed Wednesday in the 150th District Court names Pargas's estate as a defendant, along with Chad Carey, who owns Midnight Swim, Paper Tiger and Rumble—all of which are located on the same North St. Mary's block between East Ashby and East Courtland.
The suit claims Pargas and a group of people were celebrating a birthday and "bar hopping" in the area. It alleges he drank "numerous alcoholic beverages" at the three establishments, to the point where he became "obviously intoxicated and was a clear danger to himself and others."
"Time is of the essence," said Rodriguez. "We want to obtain witness statements, witness testimony when it's still fresh, we want receipts from these bars."
Officials with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission confirmed the agency was "in the early stages" of investigating two of the bars named in the suit. The San Antonio Police Department couldn't say whether they were also looking into the bars.
“They don’t have the ability of such to take away keys, but they do have the ability to stop serving the individuals that are already intoxicated, they do have the ability to call the police, they do have the ability to call in a taxicab or other services," said Rodriguez. "These establishments should be held accountable for the actions of their employees."
According to state law, selling or serving alcoholic drinks could inform “a statutory cause of action” if it was “apparent” a patron had drank enough to the point of endangering others. The lawsuit also accuses Pargas of negligence for deciding to drive after allegedly drinking so much.
Relatives previously told KENS 5 that Portillo and her friends were enjoying a Saturday night out before the crash, stopping for burgers and donuts downtown before starting back home for Elmendorf. They were hit just a few miles from their destination.
Lawrence Alcoser's lawsuit seeks at least $1 million in damages.
Koree Alcoser's mother, Peggy Gaeta, made the following statement after this report first aired:
"We are saddened to hear that Koree's biological father has decided to go this route to the media as he was not present in Koree's life by choice. The Gaeta family did not want to make public details out of respect to our family as well as the other victims' families still grieving. We continue to ask for privacy as we are still doing everything to get justice while trying to continue to get through day by day."