FORT PIERCE, Fla. — A Fort Pierce man who drove drunk and caused a deadly and fiery crash in 2018 that killed five people will spend the next 72 years in prison. But the legal fight for the families of the people he killed isn't over.
They’re trying to hold the bar accountable where they said Tanner Dashner was over-served before causing the deadly crash.
WATCH: Tanner Dashner sentenced to 72 years in prison
Before Dashner drove drunk just after his 21st birthday and caused a fiery crash on Nov. 23, 2018, killing five young people and injuring a sixth person, investigators said he had been drinking at On The Edge Bar and Grill in Fort Pierce.
The families of victims Alexis Chaney and Kedan Tillett are now going after the bar, Dashner, and his parents who owned the car Dashner was driving.
In two civil lawsuits, attorney John Phillips claims On The Edge Bar and Grill and its staff over-served Dashner, didn’t stop him from getting into his car while knowing he was intoxicated, and did not stop him from taking alcohol with him out of the bar.
Phillips said Dashner, while at the bar, posted a picture to Snapchat with the caption, "Sloshed."
"It's one thing for bars to serve reasonably. But to continue to have unreasonable service and to turn a blind eye as people take alcohol out of the facility, it’s all bad," Phillips said.
At the same bar in early 2021, investigators said Ryan Hester was also over-served and drove drunk, causing a deadly crash that killed a new mom, Claudia Trewyn Bradley.
"That this reckless loss of life stop," Phillips said.
The civil suit, Phillips said, had been slow moving, waiting for the criminal hearings for Dashner to end.
But with sentencing over, Phillips said they can now get more information out of Dashner, his parents, and the bar.
"To actually be able to get answers from Mr. and Mrs. Dashner and Tanner Dashner is the thing we’re looking forward to the most," Phillips said.
Meanwhile, the state won’t say whether it has its own investigation into the bar or whether it would revoke the bar's liquor license.
WPTV reached out to the bar for a comment, but management did not want to make a comment. Our news team also contacted the bar's attorney for a comment but has not heard back.
But the civil suit, Phillips said, could still challenge the bar’s future.
"You can’t sue to have a liquor license removed necessarily. But if you get testimony, you can provide that to the authorities that regulate licenses and say, look, this is what’s going on at this facility. And they’ll shut down the facility or take away the license," Phillips said.
