Bartender Charged for Serving too Much Alcohol to Driver Accused of Killing Woman in Fatal Crash
A bartender in Texas has been charged with overserving a customer, PEOPLE confirms. The intoxicated customer then allegedly left the bar, drove drunk and killed somebody.
World of Beer bartender Miguel Rizo was arrested Sunday night for allegedly overserving Zachary Castro on Jan. 26, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office tells PEOPLE.
Castro is accused of driving drunk that night and allegedly plowed into a group of Good Samaritans trying to help a disabled vehicle on the side of a Harris County road with his pickup truck, KRTK and KHOU report.
Before he left the bar, Castro can be seen on CCTV footage stumbling around inside and having difficulty walking out the door. Investigators say Castro told them he had six beers and four shots before he left the Cypress bar.
Rizo is facing misdemeanor liquor violation charges of providing alcohol to an intoxicated person and permitting an intoxicated person to remain on the premise, according to the sheriff’s office.
“The death and terrible injuries inflicted on these Good Samaritans could have been avoided,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a statement to KRTK. “Drunk driving deaths are completely preventable.”
“We want to go after the people who contribute to the worst crashes,” Prosecutor Sean Teare, head of the Vehicular Crimes Division in the district attorney’s office, said.
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On the night of the crash, Mayra Ospina, 23, and her boyfriend, along with several other drivers, pulled over on the side of Barker Cypress to help a vehicle stuck in a ditch. The car turned out to be abandoned and as the drivers stood by their vehicles, Castro allegedly slammed his pickup truck into the group, throwing Ospina over the hood of his truck and into the ditch.
She was declared brain dead and died at a hospital days later. Her boyfriend, Luis Ramirez, survived the crash and spent three weeks hospitalized.
Ramirez is now suing the World of Beers in Cypress, claiming the restaurant is liable for its employee’s negligent acts.
In a statement to ABC13, World of Beers confirmed Castro is no longer working for the company and said the venue was “deeply saddened by the tragic event.” World of Beers added that it cannot comment further on pending litigation.
Castro was initially charged with intoxication assault, however the charge has been upgraded to intoxication manslaughter.
