A bloke who ended up in a fight with another man after drinking too much has sued the bar where he got drunk for a whopping $5.5 million (£4,014,862).
Daniel Rawls filed a civil suit against La Fogata Mexican Grill in Odessa, Texas, claiming the restaurant had been negligent after continuing to serve him booze while he was intoxicated.
Rawls visited the restaurant and bar in May 2019, got drunk and ended up in an altercation with fellow customer Robert Henrickson in the venue's car park, the Houston Chronicle reports.
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Rawls claimed to have sustained a head injury during the altercation with Henrickson, who had also been drinking.
The lawsuit claimed that La Fogata Mexican Grill, its owner Lourdes Galindo and a bartender who was not named in the suit, were responsible for Rawls' injury as they allowed both him and Henrickson to drink excessively and leave together.
The suit also claimed the restaurant was negligent as an ambulance wasn't called after Rawls was injured.
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It went on to allege that the bartender had not been properly trained to notice when customers had had too much to drink, and that Galindo had not made sure the car park was free from obstacles 'that would pose a tripping or falling hazard to intoxicated patrons'.
Rawls claimed to have sustained a 'serious and debilitating' injury after he was hit by Henrickson and fell over in the 'uneven parking lot'.
In total, Rawls made five claims against La Fogata Mexican Grill including premises liability, negligence and damages arising from foreseeable criminal conduct.
The Andrews County 109th District Court ruled in Rawls' favour in a default judgement - which means Galindo did not respond to the suit or attend the hearing.
The hearing did not make a judgement on whether Rawls' claims were true.
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La Fogata Mexican Grill now has 30 days to file a notice of appeal, if they want to go for a new trial.
According to the Houston Chronicle, Rawls is alleged to have a history of being drunk - jail records show he was arrested twice on charges of publication intoxication once in February last year and then again in May this year.
The Midland Reporter Telegram, Rawls was also arrested and charged with drunk driving earlier this month.
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