Untitled Document

August 1, 2000

Bar may be facing charges in deaths;
2 teens killed: Marietta establishment could be charged with serving a minor before he was involved in crash, DUI.

By Brad Schrade, Staff

The Marietta bar that threw out a 20-year-old man minutes before police say he killed two teens in a head-on collision could face charges if it served him alcohol, according to the attorney general's office.

But any charges against Dos Naciones bar would only be a misdemeanor for serving an underage person, said Jeff DiSantis, a spokesman for the state attorney general. Georgia has no criminal laws that address a bar serving a person who then gets in a drunken driving accident, DiSantis said.

However, if the bar is found to have served suspect Sergio Montelongo- Sanchez --- a fact that investigators still haven't determined --- it could face a lawsuit, experts said. Montelongo-Sanchez is charged with DUI in causing the deaths of two teenagers and critically injuring two other people early Saturday.

"You can't just be selling liquor and not be held accountable," said Gilbert Deitch, an Atlanta lawyer who is an expert on the issue. "The bar industry has tried to tighten up its policies and procedures."

Changes in Georgia's civil laws in the past decade have made bars more accountable for customers' behavior, Deitch said. A bar that serves a person who is intoxicated and knows they are going to drive can be held liable in civil court.

"We're looking into what actually transpired at the bar," said Cobb police traffic investigator Officer Tom Harris. "And whether or not the bar will be linked to anything beyond that property."

Montelongo-Sanchez had been in the club for less than an hour when bouncers led him out the door because he and some friends were fighting, bar security guard Matt Moran said Monday. Blood ran down his face, soaking his denim shirt.

He and at least one friend got into a 1992 black Lincoln Continental. Montelongo-Sanchez hit the gas. Police say he had been drinking.

The Continental then hit several cars and tried to hit several people, police said. As it was pulling away it swerved into a man, flipping him, Moran said. The Continental sped out of the parking lot onto Sandtown Road, heading south.

At the same time --- about 1:15 a.m. --- a Honda Civic with four people was heading north. They were heading to a friend's house, relatives said. Police say they had not been drinking.

The speeding Continental swerved across the center line and smashed head on into the Civic, police say.

Christopher Shackleford, 19, of Woodstock, the Honda's driver, and passenger Julieanne Pascoe, 18, of Kennesaw, died. Miechelle "Kelli" Bourgeois, 19, of Woodstock was in critical condition Monday. Matthew Hunt, 24, of Marietta was in critical but stable condition.

Louis Santoyo Gonzalez, 23, a passenger in Montelongo-Sanchez's car, was treated for non-life- threatening injuries.

Montelongo-Sanchez is charged with vehicular homicide, five counts of aggravated assault in connection with trying to run people over in the parking lot, DUI, hit-and-run and other traffic offenses.

Pascoe's funeral is scheduled for Thursday.

Shackleford's family and friends gathered Monday at his split-level home in Woodstock after attending a burial service in a corner of Rolling Hills Memory Gardens.
Kenny Shackleford, his father, recalled his last exchange with his son when Christopher left home Friday night.

"I said, 'Be careful son,' and he said, 'Dad, you know I'm always careful.' "