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Downtown Orlando club accused of serving alcohol to 2 minors before fatal wrong-way crash

ORLANDO, Fla. — Two families have sued a downtown Orlando bar, claiming negligence and wrongful death after the club was accused of serving liquor to a 19-year-old woman and a 20-year-old man who caused a fatal crash on Interstate 4.

The families allege that George Stephan and Gretchen Roberts got drunk at Ono Nightclub in April before driving to Seminole County, where they drove in the wrong direction on Interstate 4 near the exits for Orange and West Seminole boulevards.

Investigators said the vehicle that the pair was traveling in collided head-on with a car being driven by Patrice Taylor. They said Stephan and Roberts died in the crash and Taylor was injured.

An autopsy revealed Stephan and Roberts, both underage, had blood alcohol levels almost twice the legal limit.

The lawsuit alleges that the nightclub is responsible for getting Stephan and Roberts drunk.

State regulators said they sent underage buyers to test the nightclub twice in the past two years, based on complaints about sales to minors, but the bar refused sale both times.

The Orlando Police Department said it conducts its own alcohol compliance assessments and that Ono Nightclub has had no violations on record this year.

The nightclub declined to comment.