White Tavern, at 423 E. Ogden Ave. in Naperville, and Crazy Rock, a strip club in Romeoville have been named in a DUI-related wrongful death lawsuit. Douglas Long, 60, and his 53-year-old wife, Margaret of Darien were killed early Jan. 28, 2006 by a driver who is alleged to have been intoxicated and was also killed after he ran a red light at the intersection of 63rd and Main streets.
Michael Heise, 23, of Chicago, who attended a holiday celebration with co-workers at the bars also died in the crash. His blood alcohol content level was reported to be .169 to .204 percent. The legal limit in Illinois is .08 percent. The complaint claims that Heise became intoxicated while consuming about 19 drinks in eight hours.
The bar and strip club are being sued under Illinois’ dram shop liability act. Currently civil law does not define intoxication as .08 percent, which is the legal limit in criminal cases. However, a plaintiff expert testified that Heise was three to four times above the minimum amount to be considered intoxicated, according to his weight, BAC and length of hours drinking.