The operator of an indoor water park agreed to a $4.75 million settlement on Oct. 14 in Silva v. Apex Parks Group, a Camden County dram shop suit stemming from a drunken-driving crash that killed a girl, age 9, and left her sister, age 8, severely injured.
According to the suit, Marcelo Rizzo of Elizabeth visited Sahara Sam's Oasis Indoor and Outdoor Water Park in Berlin on Nov. 25, 2018, with his daughters, Madelynn, 9, and Juliana, 8. At a bar on the premises, Rizzo consumed two large, "fishbowl"-type drinks, one shot and two mixed drinks, in a four-hour period, the equivalent of 16 to 18 servings of alcohol, and he ran up a $100 bar bill, telling a friend in a text message he was "pretty smashed," the suit said.
When he ordered the final drink, the staff knew or should have known he was intoxicated, the suit claimed—he whistled to get the bartender's attention, then failed to remember his wallet, had trouble signing the check, and stumbled while walking away from the bar. When he left the bar with the two children, security camera footage revealed he wandered around the parking lot, unable to find his car; sat for several minutes in the car without driving; drove aimlessly around the parking lot, unable to find the exit; attempted to exit through a one-way entrance; and then drove his vehicle over a curb and grass median and onto adjoining property in order to use their exit, the suit claimed.
Rizzo drove to nearby Route 295 North in Mount Laurel, where he struck several cars without stopping before he lost control of his vehicle and struck a tree, the suit claims. Madelynn was ejected from the car and was declared dead at the scene. Juliana sustained a broken arm, leg and pelvis, and a ruptured bowel, and required multiple operations. She has made a good recovery from her physical injuries but continues to receive counseling for emotional distress, said plaintiffs lawyer Louis DeVoto of Rossetti DeVoto in Cherry Hill.
Ana Silva, who was divorced from Rizzo, is the mother of the two girls and the executor for the estate of Madelynn. She filed suit against Apex Parks Group, the operator of the water park. Sahara Sam's Oasis Indoor and Outdoor Water Park, the establishment's trade name, was listed in court documents.
Rizzo pleaded guilty to reckless homicide and endangering the welfare of a minor, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Apex Parks Group filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy while the suit was pending. The plaintiffs were able to remove the case from bankruptcy court on the condition that plaintiffs could not seek recovery above the available insurance proceeds, said DeVoto, who represented the plaintiff.
A settlement was reached Oct. 14, after mediation with Mark Epstein, a former Superior Court judge now with Hoagland, Longo, Moran, Dunst & Doukas in New Brunswick. Apex Parks Group agreed to pay $1.75 million to settle the wrongful death claim on behalf of Madelynn, and $3 million to settle the injury and emotional distress claims by Juliana.
A friendly hearing is pending, as is a motion to bar Rizzo from recovering any settlement proceeds from his daughter's estate, said DeVoto.
Dinesh Dadlani of Segal McCambridge Singer & Mahoney in Jersey City, who represented Apex Parks Group, declined to comment.
Read More: Dram Shop Laws State-by-State
Editors Note: Dram Shop laws are statutory provisions that allow establishments that are licensed to sell alcohol to be held liable for serving alcohol to individuals who cause bodily injury or death as a result of their intoxication. You can find New Jersey's dram shop law at N.J. Rev. Stat. § 2A:22A-4.
Charles Toutant
Charles Toutant is a litigation writer for the New Jersey Law Journal.