Ryan Dunn’s fatal crash killed Jackass production assistant whose family sued Dunn’s estate over death
Ryan Dunn is best known for his role in Jackass, appearing in the upcoming Jackass: Best and Last in archival footage from previous films, and died in 2011 at the age of 34.
Dunn was famous prior to his appearance on Jackass for being part of the CYK (Camp Kill Yourself) crew along with Bam Margera, who the group was centred around, and filmed themselves doing insane stunts and pranks.
The Ohio-born stuntman was an alcoholic, with fellow Jackass star Steve-O having stated in the past that towards the end of his life his alcoholism was so bad he required alcohol to stop his hands from shaking.
The crash which killed him was tragic, with the Jackass crew dedicating 2022’s film Jackass: Forever to Dunn with the message: “In memory of our brother Ryan Dunn.”
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What is less known however is that the crash, in which Dunn was twice the legal limit for alcohol, also claimed the life of a production assistant Zachary Hartwell.
Hartwell and Dunn had been out drinking, with the Jackass star later being revealed to have been driving at double the legal limit for alcohol, and he crashed his Porsche 911 going 140 miles per hour in a 55-mph zone.
Hartwell was a production assistant on Jackass 2, having previously been a US Navy Gunner’s mate before meeting the Jackass crew and becoming friends with them, working as a bouncer, bodyguard, designated driver, and stunt car drive.
Hartwell’s family ended up suing both Ryan Dunn’s estate and the bar where the pair were drinking before their death, Barnaby's West Chester.
The lawsuit alleges that Dunn drank for hours and that the bar continued to serve him despite being ‘visibly’ intoxicated. He had a blood alcohol content of 0.196 when eh died.
It also alleges that Dunn ‘displayed negligence and recklessness in failing to have his vehicle under adequate and proper control, operating his vehicle under the influence of alcohol, operating his vehicle at an excessive rate of speed, and violently colliding his vehicle off a road and into a tree’.
The lawsuit was settled privately, with the family having sought unspecified financial damages.
Zac’s older brother wrote a tribute to him for a website about victims of DUIs, saying: “On June 20th, 2011 after spending a night celebrating, drinking at a bar called Barnaby’s, in Westchester, Zac got into the passenger seat of the Porsche driven by Ryan Dunn; and lost his life in a DUI crash – 400 feet from his home.
“On June 20th 2011, all of Zac’s family and friends who loved him so very much had our lives changed, forever. I will miss him till the day that I die. All of us will. I love you Zac.”
Carrie Hartwell-Luwchuck, his sister, told KOMO News: “It was the worst day of my life. It took over everything, I couldn't function.
“My brother only needed one person, one person to stop him, one person to say don't get that car, one person to say, let me give you a ride home and nobody did that.”
She later set up a non-profit called The ZAC Mission, focused on providing education, support and alternative transportation in order to achieve our goal of Zero Alcohol-related Casualties.
Steve-O, speaking about Dunn’s death on the Graham Bessinger podcast in 2019, admitted that he learned of the incident when a TMZ reporter woke him up by calling him to ask for a comment on his passing.
He stated however that, whilst heartbreaking, he was not surprised. Steve-O said: “I think of Ryan Dunne passing and I think it’s really sad.
“I don't think anybody that would disagree that he died of alcoholism you know and you don't have to do that like I've learned that you know there's a solution so it's sad and I miss him and I know all of my buddies miss him.”
Topics: Jackass, Steve-O, Celebrity, TV and Film, Film
Michael Slavin