The mother of Robby Schartner, a Manhattanville College student who was struck and killed last year after returning to campus from White Plains, has filed a lawsuit against the driver and the bar where she allegedly consumed alcohol for hours.
Donna Juliette Ann Hall, Schartner’s mother, is challenging that The Pub, a bar located on Elm Place, continued to serve the driver, Emma Fox, while she was “visibly intoxicated,” just before the incident.
On Oct. 9 last year, Schartner, of Fishkill, was walking along Westchester Avenue, returning from a night out in downtown White Plains, before Fox, 24, struck and killed the 21-year-old with her car, a 2012 Nissan Sentra.
Fox, who has been charged with an aggravated DWI and first-degree manslaughter for striking and killing the student, was traveling eastbound at around 5 a.m. when the incident occurred.
At the time of her arrest, police measured Fox with a blood alcohol level of 0.21; the legal limit in New York state is 0.08.
The lawsuit, filed on Aug. 11, states that the bar “carelessly and unlawfully” provided alcohol to Fox, who was “unable to walk properly, had slurred speech, had bloodshot eyes, and openly and obviously smelled from consumption of alcohol,” between approximately 12 a.m. and 4:30 a.m.
After Schartner’s death, the Manhattanville College administration decided to modify its shuttle bus service in response to criticism from the student body about the safety of its schedule, which made its final return to campus at 1:30 a.m.
The college reinstated Friday and Saturday late night hours for the Valiant Express, which had been nixed in 2015. Typically, the shuttle bus returns to campus as late as 3:30 a.m. under that current schedule.
Fox is due to reappear in White Plains City Court on Aug. 31, after a number of her previous court dates were adjourned. She was released from Westchester County Jail last November on a $100,000 bail.
Stephen Lewis, an attorney representing Fox, did not respond to a request for comment.
James Finneran, the owner of the bar, and Anthony Mamo, and attorney representing Hall, could not be reached for comment as of press time.
