Fat Jack’s denies it served alcohol to drunk driver

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In responses filed last week in two civil lawsuits connected to a 2013 drunk driving wreck that left two dead, Texarkana’s Fat Jack’s Oyster and Sports Bar denies any wrongdoing.

Chad Caldwell had a blood alcohol level of .301 when he crashed his jeep into Tameka Pavon’s small car at an intersection on State Line Avenue in the early hours of Sept. 29, 2013. Pavon, 38, and one of her two passengers, Jercarlos Hawkins, 34, died at the scene. Genaro Camacho suffered a debilitating brain injury.

Caldwell is currently serving a 20-year prison term in Texas for two counts of intoxication manslaughter and one count of intoxication assault. He was denied parole in January. He is scheduled for release from prison in December 2021. Caldwell’s next parole review is scheduled for January 2017, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice website.

Last year the families of Pavon and Hawkins filed civil wrongful death suits against Caldwell, Hopkins Icehouse, and owners of the downtown Texarkana bar. Recently, lawyers for Hopkins filed a third party complaint alleging Caldwell didn’t just drink at Hopkins the night of the deadly collision, but at Fat Jack’s as well. The third party complaint asks that if any liability is assigned to Hopkins, it should be shared by Fat Jack’s.

Fat Jack’s filed a response Monday denying that Caldwell was served alcohol while at the bar the morning of or night before Pavon’s and Hawkins’ deaths though the bar does admit Caldwell was there the night he drove drunk. The suits filed last year in Miller County, Ark., by Texarkana attorneys Hawley Holman and Chad Trammell allege Caldwell drank 20 beers and several cocktails while at Hopkins. The third party complaint does not specify how much Caldwell allegedly consumed while at Fat Jack’s.

Fat Jack’s and Hopkins are located in Texarkana, Ark. The crash occurred in Texarkana, Texas.

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