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Local Bank Sued After Employees Help Drunk Driver

Bank Employees Help Drunk Driver Change Tire

On September 27, 2012, then 29-year-old Gabriel A. Biddle pulled into the iAB Bank's Leo branch sometime before 2:30 p.m. Biddle first tried to enter the drive-thru going the wrong way and then stopped, his silver Toyota Corolla having a flat tire. According to the lawsuit filed by Neal, employees at the bank noticed Biddle staggering and acting as though he did not seem "aware." The lawsuit claims that the bank's employees recognized that Biddle appeared to have been drinking and were concerned that he might be driving drunk. Still, they helped him repair his flat tire when he could not.

It was later revealed that someone from the bank did dial 911 to report a possible drunk driver, but it is unclear when this call was made. Three minutes later and 6 miles away, Fort Wayne police responded to a crash at Maplecrest and Evard roads. At the intersection of Maplecrest and Evard, Biddle rear-ended a vehicle at full speed and the collision caused a chain-reaction crash involving several vehicles. The driver of the first vehicle that was struck had to be extricated from her car and suffered broken ribs, fluid in her chest and throat from bruising and needed to have her elbow surgically repaired.

A blood test revealed that Biddle had a blood alcohol content at more than six times the legal limit, an astounding 0.52. Suit has now been filed against the iAB bank for helping Biddle get back behind the wheel of his car. The Court, and possibly a jury, will now have to decide whether the bank employees helping Biddle change the tire was a proximate cause of the accident.