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Androvett Blog

by Robert Tharp at 11:32:43 am

Dram Shop lawsuit targets Fort Worth bar where police officer got drunk before causing fatal wreck, Personal Injury Lawyer Jeff Rasansky

The details surrounding the horrific crash that killed Fort Worth mother Sonia Baker were terrible from the start ... a young mother picking up breakfast for her family before going to work died when her car was struck by a drunk driver. 

It was later revealed that the drunk driver was a Fort Worth police officer and the SUV he was driving was a city-owned undercover police vehicle. But that was just the beginning. A internal police revealed that officer Jesus Cisneros had started drinking that night while he was still on duty, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. After completing his on-duty "bar detail," the undercover narcotics officer drove to a birthday party at The Pour House, where he drank about four more beers and four shots of alcohol. His blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit when he got behind the wheel and caused the crash that killed Ms. Baker before dawn on Dec. 9, 2009.

Cisneros has since been charged with intoxication manslaughter. On Thursday, The Rasansky Law Firm filed a dram shop lawsuit on behalf of Ms. Baker's family, charging that Fort Worth bar, The Pour House, shares responsibility for continuing to serve alcohol to Cisneros and letting him leave the bar too drunk to drive. In addition to The Rasansky Law Firm, Ms. Baker's familiy is also represented by Charles M. "Chuck" Noteboom of The Noteboom Law Firm in Hurst

 The Star-Telegram also uncovered details showing that this was not Cisneros first serious infraction as a Fort Worth police officer: Civil service records show that in August 2006, he accepted a 20-day suspension in lieu of indefinite suspension after an internal investigation of two incidents.
The first, in March 2006, involved allegations that Cisneros, while intoxicated and a passenger in his own car, fired a single shot through an open sunroof. Records show that Cisneros did not report the incident but later admitted to it during an administrative investigation.
The second incident, in April 2006, involved allegations that Cisneros, while off duty, drove a city vehicle to an Arlington pub, then drove an unauthorized female passenger to a Mansfield home.
 

"Sonia Baker died because The Pour House lived up to its name and kept pouring drinks for Mr. Cisneros even though he was so drunk he could hardly stand up and should never have been driving," says Mr. Rasansky. "Sonia had a loving family and a great career ahead of her before she was killed because The Pour House wanted to serve more drinks."