Resident sues pizza parlor for alleged poisoning

Tariq Malik

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- A Surf City man is seeking legal damages from a

local pizza restaurant after drinking what he alleges was a beer laced

with a poisonous chemical.

Steven Dominguez, 37, has filed a suit against Lamppost Pizza, owned

by Greg and Garry Gardner, at 7071 Warner Ave., as well as the Santa

Ana-based Draft Beer Maintenance Co., for lost wages and medical costs

incurred from drinking beer that apparently contained a few ounces of the

chemical potassium hydroxide.

“In a sense it’s like Drano,” said Bill Marler, a Seattle-based

attorney representing Dominguez. “It’s a caustic substance commonly used

to flush out and clean the pipelines between the keg and tap in a

restaurant.”

Lamppost owners have said the incident was a horrible occurrence, but

were unable to comment on the particulars of the lawsuit.

Insurance officials for Draft Beer Maintenance, however, have said

they have been in contact with Marler regarding Dominguez’s claim.

“We have been attempting to negotiate a resolution with the attorney

in this matter,” said Debra Guillory, claim handler for the insurance

company Golden Eagle, adding that she is waiting to hear from Dominguez’s

lawyer.

Dominguez, a painting contractor by trade, dined at Lamppost with his

wife, Venus, 9-year-old son, Drake, and a family friend Dec. 8 after

watching a soccer game earlier that day, Marler added.

According to Dominguez’s claim, Lamppost employees offered him a

sample of one the restaurant’s house beers, which allegedly contained the

potassium hydroxide.

Upon drinking the sample, the claim reads, Dominguez felt a burning

sensation in his mouth, throat and stomach, ultimately vomiting and

throwing up blood.

He was initially treated at Huntington Beach Hospital for severe

caustic injuries, has experienced gastrointestinal bleeding, and most

recently underwent surgery to replace damaged portions of his esophagus

with intestinal tissue.

Marler said his client is looking to recoup medical costs that have

totaled more than $300,000 to date, as well an undisclosed amount in lost

wages since he has not been able to work since the incident.

“Obviously, it is a very life-altering thing for Steve,” Marler went

on, adding that Dominguez hasn’t been able to eat normally since his

hospitalization. “How and what he eats is going to change.”

As of last week, Lamppost Pizza or the Draft Beer Maintenance Co. have

not filed any legal challenge to Dominguez’s suit.