Carl Edgar “Chase” Chapman Jr. was headed to work at an Atlanta Chick-fil-A before 4:30 a.m. one Saturday last summer when an alleged drunk driver leaving a strip club T-boned him.
Chapman, 31, died and his family is now suing Oasis Goodtime Emporium, the Doraville club, accusing the business of knowingly letting the “noticeably intoxicated” driver leave the building. The suit, filed this week in DeKalb County State Court, says the club shouldn’t have served Douglas Morales-Flores as he grew increasingly intoxicated after arriving at 1 a.m., and a valet working for Oasis shouldn’t have given him back his vehicle.
The suit was filed by attorney Michael Keller on behalf of Chapman’s son Wesley, 6.
Oasis’ lawyer couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
The wreck happened Aug. 26, 2017, after Morales-Flores allegedly blew through a red light at the intersection of Spalding Drive and Peachtree Parkway in Gwinnett County. Chapman had been headed to work at the Chick-fil-A on Howell Mill Road in Atlanta, where he was an assistant manager.
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Morales-Flores was charged with DUI, vehicular homicide, driving on a suspended license and other charges. A trial date has been set for Sept. 17, according to court records. Morales-Flores isn’t named as a defendant of the suit.
The death shook Chapman’s relatives, who’d already had to deal with a similar case. Chapman’s paternal grandmother had also died in a wreck with a DUI driver, family told Channel 2 Action News.
“It is a problem that could easily be solved by a person making a good decision,” Chapman’s father, Carl Chapman, said.
The suit asks for a jury trial to determine what the family is owed.
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