Posted at 10:55 a.m., Friday, June 29, 2007
MLB: No penalty for restaurant that served Hancock
Associated Press
ST. LOUIS — The Missouri Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control will take no action against a restaurant that served St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock before the drunken-driving accident that led to his death.A copy of the investigative report has been turned over to St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce for her review, said Peter Lobdell, supervisor of the state Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control.
Hancock, 29, spent more than three hours at Mike Shannon's restaurant in St. Louis the night of April 28. In the early hours of April 29, he was driving alone when the sport utility vehicle he was driving struck a flatbed tow truck that was stopped in a driving lane of Interstate 64 assisting a stalled car. Hancock was killed instantly. No one else was hurt.
Police said Hancock had a blood alcohol level of 0.157, nearly twice Missouri's legal limit of 0.08. According to police, he also was speeding, using a cell phone and not wearing a seat belt.
Hancock's father, Dean Hancock, of Tupelo, Miss., filed a lawsuit in May against the restaurant, saying it provided drinks to his son even though he already was intoxicated. That suit also named the tow truck company and operator and the owner of the stalled car.
