 Katherine Berman, the wife of ESPN personality Chris Berman, was served alcohol even though she was intoxicated shortly before a car crash that killed her and a Waterbury man, a lawsuit filed against a Woodbury bar charges. Neil Vigdor/Hartford Courant A lawsuit charges the Woodbury restaurant Market Place Kitchen & Bar served Katherine Berman while she was intoxicated. Filed in Superior Court in Litchfield, the suit alleges that restaurant employees served alcohol to Berman on May 9, 2017, while she was intoxicated. Bertulis wasn't wearing a seat belt and was partially thrown from his car, state police said. The state medical examiner’s office ruled Berman's death an accident and said she died from blunt trauma and drowning. Chris Berman said he left for New York the day before and that the couple was scheduled to leave the day after the crash for Florida to celebrate his birthday. The lawsuit is seeking more than $50,000 from the restaurant and its owner, Elias Hawli. It was filed under a state statute known as the Dram Shop Act, a law that holds an establishment liable if it serves an intoxicated person and the patron leaves the establishment and causes death or injury. Katherine Berman, Wife Of ESPN Personality Chris Berman, Died From Blunt Trauma, Drowning » 
 
 The lawsuit alleges that Berman left Market Place at about 2:15 p.m. and drove while intoxicated onto Sherman Hill Road, a short distance away from the restaurant, and was following immediately behind the car operated by Bertulis “when, in consequence of her intoxication, she suddenly and without warning slammed into the rear end of Mr. Bertulis car.” 
 
 The 2003 Lexus SC 430 driven by Berman hit the rear of the 2003 Ford Escape driven by Bertulis, veered off the road and down an embankment and overturned in a small body of water, state police said.
– Connecticut's Dram Shop Act makes liable an establishment that serves alcohol to an intoxicated person if that person subsequently kills or injures someone, and it's what a somewhat high-profile suit was filed under. The suit alleges Katherine Berman, the 67-year-old wife of ESPN personality Chris Berman, was served by Woodbury's Market Place Kitchen & Bar on May 9, 2017, though she was intoxicated. She left the restaurant in the early afternoon and crashed into a car driven by Edward Bertulis, 87. Both were killed, and Bertulis' family is behind the suit, which seeks upwards of $50,000 from the eatery and owner Elias Hawli. The suit doesn't detail how many drinks Berman, who was having lunch with sister Sandra Lewis, allegedly received. But a state police report obtained by the Hartford Courant quotes Lewis as saying Berman had oysters, stuffed clams, bread, and one martini that she didn't finish, followed by an alcoholic chocolate drink that also wasn't finished. The report says Berman's blood-alcohol level was .26, more than three times the legal limit. She was driving her Lexus as fast as 82mph on a road that had a 45mph speed limit, did not stay in her lane, and never braked before slamming into Bertulis' vehicle. Traces of oxycodone, tramadol, and anti-depressants including citalopram were found in her system; Chris Berman told police she was being treated for a minor back fracture. One wrenching detail from the Courant: Bertulis was killed after leaving the cemetery he visited daily; his wife was buried there in 2015.