Hooters responds to lawsuit over former Anderson University coach’s fatal DUI

Hooters responded Friday to a lawsuit filed over a 2014 fatal DUI crash outside of Anderson University.

Hooters corporate offices and the local affiliated restaurant were named as defendants, along with Anderson County bar The Bench, in a lawsuit filed Thursday on behalf of 13-year-old Cheyenne Perkins, who nearly died in the November 2014 wreck.

Three others did lose their lives in the crash.

"Hooters would like to express its concern for the Perkins family and others impacted by the Nov. 8, 2014 motor vehicle accident involving Riley McDermott," according to a statement issued by a public relations firm on behalf of Hooters.

The company said Hooters has cooperated with investigators and will continue to do so. It also says employees are required to follow internal and state rules on serving customers.

"However, because the case is now the subject of active litigation, it would be inappropriate for Hooters to comment on specific details of this case," noted the statement.

The driver, former Anderson University assistant baseball coach Riley Christopher McDermott, is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. He was sentenced earlier this year to 18 years behind bars.

The lawsuit says McDermott drank 13 beers total at the two bars and was physically close to a shift manager and several servers at Hooters of Anderson who should have called him a cab.

This story was originally published August 19, 2016 at 8:36 PM with the headline "Hooters responds to lawsuit over former Anderson University coach’s fatal DUI."