By Joe Gerrety
jgerrety@journalandcourier.com

Lawyers for two of three motorcyclists injured in a drunken driving crash nearly two years ago have filed a civil lawsuit against a West Lafayette bar.

Michael Alsop, 44, and the parents of Christopher E. Harmon, 21, filed lawsuits Friday in separate Tippecanoe County courts alleging that Jake's Roadhouse was negligent for serving Nicole M. Fox until she was "significantly intoxicated."

Fox, 23, of Lafayette had a blood-alcohol content of 0.23 percent after her car went left of center on County Road 350 South the night of Sept. 2, 2004. Fox drove into the path of four oncoming motorcyclists, causing at least two of them to crash.

But Angie Brown, who co-owns Jake's with her husband, Bill Brown, questions whether Fox was even in her establishment the night of the crash.

"We have no record of that, so I doubt that was even true. None of my employees have any knowledge of her being there," Brown said. "There were no credit card records."

But Lafayette attorney Jeff Cooke, who represents Alsop and the Harmons, said Fox drank at the bar in West Lafayette's Chauncey Hill Mall for two hours before driving toward her home in south Lafayette. He said it was the only establishment where she had been drinking that night.

Chris Harmon's mother, Cynde Harmon, was with Chris in the Home Hospital intensive care unit Friday evening after he suffered a setback this past week. She said she's disappointed the bar hasn't taken responsibility. She said several people, including Nicole Fox, have given depositions stating she was drinking at Jake's before the crash.

"This is a business in our community that served someone to the point of inebriation," Cynde Harmon said. "They've made no attempt to step up to the plate to help out."

Fox was free on her own recognizance at the time, having been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving 12 days earlier. She is now serving a 10-year prison sentence.

Harmon and Jerome E. Raiff, 46, were injured most seriously.

Harmon, who struck a sign and landed in a rocky ditch when he swerved to avoid Fox's car, suffered a head injury and is totally disabled. Still unable to move his body and only able to communicate by blinking his eyes, Harmon faces years of extensive and painful physical rehabilitation.

Cooke said Harmon and his parents, Charles and Cynde, have amassed more than $615,000 in medical and health care expenses already.

The Harmons moved to Indiana from Massachusetts after their son was injured. Cynde Harmon has served as Chris' full-time caregiver.

The Harmons moved to Indiana from Massachusetts after their son was injured. Cynde Harmon gave up her career to serve as Chris' full-time caregiver so he wouldn't have to be institutionalized.

"It's kind of our normal life now to be dealing with his daily concerns," she said. "This is our path now. ... He will have to be taken care of the rest of his life."

Raiff, who was sideswiped by Fox's car, lost part of his left arm and left leg. He now uses a wheelchair and depends on family members to care for him. He is represented by another attorney. No lawsuit has been filed yet on his behalf. The two-year statute of limitations to file civil lawsuits expires Sept. 2.

Cooke said Alsop was struck in the hip by the driver-side rearview mirror of Fox's car but did not crash. But the alleged collision aggravated a pre-existing spinal injury, Cooke said.

Alsop has accumulated more than $19,000 in medical expenses, according to the complaint filed in Tippecanoe Superior Court 1. Alsop has another lawsuit pending against Fox in the same court.

Kiran Pinisetti, 29, another motorcyclist riding with the group, reportedly was not injured.