Restaurant, owners and staff charged under Ontario's Liquor Licence Act after fatal crash

Restaurant charged in fatal impaired driving crash From CTV Kitchener's Daryl Morris: A bar in Cambridge is facing charges in a fatal crash after allegedly overserving the guilty party.

KITCHENER — A Cambridge restaurant and four people associated with it are facing charges in connection to a fatal impaired driving crash.

St. Louis Bar and Grill, two of its owners and two staff members are facing a combined 21 charges under the Liquor Licence Act, police said Friday.

The charges are in connection to a fatal crash in November 2019 that left 67-year-old Kenneth Scott dead.

He was driving home from getting his winter tires on when another driver crossed the centre line on Townline Road and collided with his vehicle head-on.

Jason Fach, 38, pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing death in December. An agreed statement of facts says that he had had four 20 oz. beers in a little more than an hour at St. Louis Bar and Grill the night of the crash.

Fach has been sentenced to six years in prison.

On Feb. 28, police announced that they had charged the restaurant, its owners and two staff members.

The charges include selling liquor to an intoxicated person, permit drunkenness on licensed premises and failing to facilitate inspection.

Under Ontario law, an establishment and its ownership can be held responsible for overserving someone.

"The law requires that liquor sales licensees do not serve anyone to the point of intoxication," a handout on the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario's website reads in part.

"If there is an intoxicated person on the licensed premises, licensees may be held civilly responsible for the person’s conduct."

The accused in this case have not been publicly named. These allegations have not been proven in court.

The St. Louis Bar and Grill franchise in question has declined to comment, but a statement from the company's head office says they, along with the local franchise owner/operator, have offered their full support to police during this investigation.

This is the second time in less than a year that a Waterloo Region establishment has been charged in connection to an impaired driving death.

Last year, a number of people associated with another Kitchener restaurant were charged after a patron was killed in a crash at Alpine Plaza.

In that case, the owners and an employee at Chicago Pub and Billiards were charged in the death of 40-year-old Walter Cabrera.