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BNSF sues downtown bar over fatal wreck

by Matt Baldwin / Whitefish Pilot
| October 20, 2015 12:00 AM

BNSF Railway says Casey’s Bar should be held liable for a fatal accident in 2013 that left one of its work vehicles destroyed.

A complaint filed Sept. 24 in Flathead County District Court claims that Casey’s Bar continued to serve a woman alcohol “despite her visible intoxication,” and alleges that the woman was “forced or coerced” into consuming alcohol prior to stealing a BNSF vehicle and wrecking it into a tree and sign along Wisconsin Avenue.

The lawsuit says BNSF suffered damages as a result of the accident and argues that the railway company is entitled to recover those damages due to Casey’s alleged violation of Montana code regarding civil liability for injuries involving alcohol consumption.

In its request for a jury trial, BNSF is seeking a determination that Casey’s Bar is liable for the accident or that it must provide indemnity to BNSF in the event future claims are made in relation to the accident. The railway company also is seeking costs and fees.

District Court Judge Heidi Ulbright is considering the complaint. Attorneys for BNSF Railway are Scott Stearns and Christopher Becker of Boone Karlberg P.C. in Missoula.

Attorneys for Casey’s Bar had not responded to the complaint as of press time.

According to a Whitefish Police case report, 33-year-old Bozeman resident Endsley Barrett stole a BNSF Suburban just after midnight on Sept. 28, 2013 and crashed it into a tree and sign along Wisconsin Avenue near the Chair 3 apartments.

Police found Barrett unresponsive and unconscious in the wrecked vehicle. She was taken by ambulance to Kalispell Regional Medical Center where she later died of injuries sustained in the crash.

Toxicology reports show that Barrett had a blood alcohol content of 0.204 percent at the time of the crash. The legal limit is 0.08 percent.

The only drugs detected in her system were caffeine and lidocaine. The state toxicologist stated that he was certain the lidocaine was administered by paramedics or at the hospital following the accident.

According to follow-up investigations in the case report, a BNSF employee told police that Barrett appeared extremely intoxicated that night as she staggered toward his vehicle parked near the train depot. He said she asked him for a ride, believing he was a taxi driver. The employee said her words were slurred when she spoke to him.

When the BNSF employee told Barrett he wasn’t a taxi service, he said she slammed the door, became upset and walked toward a BNSF-owned Suburban that was unlocked with the keys inside.

The employee said he tried to stop Barrett from entering the vehicle, but that she started the engine and put it into gear before he could get there.

According to the case report, Barrett nearly hit a BNSF employee as she sped out of the parking area. Once across the north side of viaduct, the report says she hit a curb, over-corrected and crashed into a tree and sign. The accident report stated that the Suburban sustained “substantial damage.”

Police later interviewed Barrett’s boyfriend who said they were in town to attend a friend’s wedding.

He said that on the night of Sept. 27, 2013 they took a shuttle from Grouse Mountain Lodge to the Bierstube at Whitefish Mountain Resort where they had drinks and ate dinner. He couldn’t provide police with an exact number of drinks they had with dinner.

The couple then took a shuttle to downtown and went to Casey’s Bar for more drinks with friends, he told police.

The boyfriend wasn’t sure what kind of drinks or how much Barrett consumed at Casey’s. When asked if he noticed anyone suspicious while at the bar, he said “no,” the report states.

The boyfriend said he left the bar that night before Barrett because he was intoxicated and wanted to head to a friend’s house. He told police that it wasn’t uncommon for the couple to leave drinking establishments at different times.

He described Barrett as a casual drinker who didn’t drink very much.