BORDERLAND

Family of man killed in ’12 crash files lawsuits

2/22/2014

Relatives of a Toledo man killed in a drunken-driving crash two years ago filed suit Friday against the driver, the woman whose car he’d borrowed, and a store that sold him liquor.

Maria Gonzalez, administrator of the estate of her son, Paul Gonzalez, filed the wrongful-death action in Lucas County Common Pleas Court against Francisco Cortez, Brittney Miller, and San Marcos Supermarket LLC, 235 Broadway.

Cortez, 23, is serving an 8½-year prison sentence for aggravated vehicular homicide. He was intoxicated, speeding, and driving with a suspended license Feb. 27, 2012, when his car hit a pole on Broadway near Harvard Boulevard and split in two. Mr. Gonzalez, 25, his friend and a backseat passenger, was killed.

The lawsuit, which seeks damages exceeding $25,000 from each defendant, alleges Cortez was negligent and reckless, that Ms. Miller was negligent in entrusting her car to Cortez, and that San Marcos knew Cortez was drunk when he purchased liquor there.