Spokane7
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January 8, 2010 in City
Family of hit-and-run victim wants bars held responsible
Canadian visiting Spokane killed in Nov. 20 crash
The family of a Canadian woman killed in a hit-and-run crash in downtown Spokane wants two bars that reportedly served the suspected driver alcohol that night held responsible for her death.
Elaine Price-Cornell, 63, died after she was hit by a car while crossing Browne Street at Spokane Falls Boulevard in November. The suspected driver, Cameron B. Olsness, is charged with vehicular homicide.
A complaint filed in Spokane County Superior Court this week seeks unspecified damages from Olsness and two downtown bars where police say the 24-year-old drank at least five mixed drinks and seven shots of tequila within an hour before hitting Price-Cornell with his Suburban and trying to drive away.
Olsness, a convicted drunken driver who was arrested again on the same charge as recently as Sept. 14, spent most of Nov. 20, the night of the crash, at Talotti’s 211, 211 N. Division, according to a police report.
The bar is named as a defendant along with Irv’s Bar, 415 W. Sprague Ave., where Olsness reportedly had a drink or two before returning to Talotti’s. Employees at each bar should have known Olsness was too drunk to be served, according to the complaint.
Price-Cornell died Nov. 30 at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center.
Her medical bills totaled about $250,000, which her family doesn’t yet know if her Canadian insurance company will pay, said Spokane lawyer Stephen Haskell. Haskell filed the complaint on behalf of Price-Cornell’s husband, Jace Cornell, and daughter, Angeline Reid.
“The accident happened within five minutes of (Olsness) leaving Talotti’s,” Haskell said. “Their history demonstrates a pattern of over-serving and disregard for the rules.”
Talotti’s owners did not return phone calls seeking comment.
The complaint, the first step to a lawsuit, is the latest legal trouble for Talotti’s. Liquor board records show the popular nightspot was fined in January 2009 after police cited a 20-year-old woman for indecent exposure after she danced topless in the window and “actually stopped traffic,” according to documents.
Police said Tony Talotti “staggered out of the bar” when they arrived. Talotti recently lost his liquor license over that incident and several others, according to liquor board records.
Irv’s owner Steffan Irvin Wachholtz said his bar has no record of Olsness drinking there that night. If he was allowed in, it was because he didn’t appear intoxicated, Wachholtz said.
“We have competent door people. If he was obviously drunk he wouldn’t be in here,” Wachholtz said.
Andrea Arnold, identified in police reports as Olsness’ girlfriend, told police Olsness drank a shot or two at Irv’s after consuming five shots and two mixed drinks at Talotti’s.
He returned to Talotti’s and drank another shot and two or three more mixed drinks, according to the police report. Arnold said she told Olsness to call a cab before he got into his car and ran a red light, striking Price-Cornell as she was in a crosswalk, according to the police report.
A Spokane County sheriff’s helicopter helped catch Olsness, who is out of jail on $50,000 bond, after he ditched his car and ran, police said.
Police never found another car that a witness said may have hit Price-Cornell as she lay in the roadway, but Arnold, who flagged down police after the crash, said Olsness may have hit the woman again while driving away, according to police reports.
Human trafficking suspects released 
ChefGus/ John Olsen on January 08 at 5:39 a.m.
The consumption rate per hour is pretty impressive… if more bar’s were held responsible, and bartender’s personally responsible.. the drunk driving rate would drop pretty quickly…
Where is the liquor control board in this law suit? John
SugarShane on January 08 at 11:43 a.m.
Ive said it before on other alcohol related incidents. Ive worked in this atmosphere and been a part of it, and I can say without a doubt that anyone that can place an order without falling down is served. Its all about the profit margins in these places, they are not serving alcohol to bring everyone happiness, they are catering to drug users that want their fix and will pay through the nose to get it. Usually there is a door charge and then drinks are anywhere from 3-8$ a pop. The bars are never held accountable when DUIs happen and when there is vehicular homicide. Alcohol is legal and gets a free pass to destroy society, all the while some anti cannabis person will scream til their blue in the face about the evils of marijuana and those damn “druggies”.
Orange on January 08 at 3:36 p.m.
Hey, you should hold the maker of the alcohol responsible too. And the State of Washington for allowing it to be sold.
Megan_B on January 08 at 3:45 p.m.
…we tried the prohibition, remember? It didn’t work. Unfortunately it’s too hard for people to get joy out of life and need chemically intoxicating substances to try to make themselves “feel better…” Why do we need alcohol OR?AND marijuana? Why not a glass of ice tea and some good conversation instead?
ChefGus/ John Olsen on January 09 at 6:20 a.m.
Megan.. all too often the personality traits that lead to excess drinking preclude “good conversation” so it becomes a viscious spiral down… the “responsibility” still lies with the drinker, but we are co dependent as a society…. and lots of tax revenue is picked up… same as gambling… and same gestalt for the participants…
I’d personally much rather deal with a room full of marijuana users every morning, than the room full of people with alcohol related mental illness.. a whole lot less agression, and better motor muscle control… john
David3505 on January 11 at 8:15 a.m.
HOW IN THE HELL IS THIS GUY OUT OF JAIL? WILL THE COURT TELL ME WHY!!!!
Ed Byrnes on January 12 at 11:02 a.m.
It interests me how the comments are turning toward cannabis, and I find this encouraging.
I worked in direct clinical practice with adolescents and families, and before that at a VA hospital in substance abuse treatment, together for a total of nearly two decades - this is the background I draw upon in addressing this issue.
Throughout human history people have altered their consciousness with substances, and this is not going to change.
I have never ever seen anyone with physiological poisoning from cannabis and I have seen more than I can count suffering from alcohol poisoning.
We never hear about the behavioral concomitants of cannabis reaching the level of those associated with alcohol, such as vehicular homicide or aggressive behavior. In fact when we read about cannabis in the news it is directly related to its illegality rather than any actual psychophysiological or behavioral consequence of its use - contrast this with alcohol.
Fortunately our legislature is considering a bill to legalize, regulate and tax cannabis sales. If you believe that policy and law should be rationally based then call or write to your legislator demanding that this bill be given an open and honest debate this session.
You will hear from people against cannabis legalization and ask yourself if they identify their own background. You will find many in law enforcement or the substance abuse treatment professions lining up against legalization - ask yourself what investment they have in maintaining the status quo. You will hear from people who are not invested financially arguing for prohibition and ask yourself - what evidence do they offer in support of their argument and how credible and critically thought out is the evidence offered.
Part of being a citizen in a democracy is the right and obligation to be informed so using modern day tools to locate and digest the evidence for ourselves is a patriotic thing to do.
edmc4545 on April 24 at 11:03 a.m.
I see drunks from bars in downtown Spokane all the time. Some of them are so drunk I can’t believe they get in cars and drive. My graveyard job allows me to see men and women doing anything and everything on Howard St. Drunk men and women going to the bathroom in parking lots, jumping over parking meters, falling on the sidewalks, yelling and screaming like a bunch of knuckle heads, fighting, etc. The police can’t be everywhere and the problem continues. Bars serve people that are drunk and if they say they didn’t realize they were drunk there being dishonest. The main reason for the problem, bar owners want money in there pockets. They don’t care if they kill your kids or this would not be a problem. The prosecutor here is another problem, the man doesn’t do anything, but fire his employee’s for running against him. We need to get rid of Tucker and get new blood in the office that will do some work. Spokane needs a new police chief, this woman has no business being in charge. Local police and deputies need an attitude adjustment, there rude, very rude, even to people that are trying to help. I went thru the Spokane Police Academy and I don’t remember anyone teaching rudeness but they must be teaching it now.
tsbryan on June 28 at 2:07 p.m.
211 and irvs are both very fast paced places, if you think the bartenders have time to assess how drunk a person is just in the small amount of time it takes them to order, you’re a fool. They have so many people waiting for their order to be taken/made, I doubt they think of much other then the drink they are in the process of making, a stock they have to maintain, and those who are clearly intoxicated. You also have to consider the fact that on a busy night, more then 1 bartender will be serving drinks, making it very difficult to keep track of how many drinks are being served to a certain person. I’ve seen people who were drunk to the point that I couldn’t believe they were standing, yet they were still standing and functioning fairly well for their level of intoxication. Im not saying that these businesses should have no punishments, but they most definitely should not be held accountable for what some idiot did after being in the establishments. Sometimes people have other things to do besides babysit, thats a very important fact to remember.