A lawsuit former NASCAR driver Mike Wallace and his family filed for injuries suffered in a beating after a Rascal Flatts concert last year has moved to federal court.
The lawsuit was filed May 30 in North Carolina Superior Court but moved to federal court in late June.
Wallace and his family are suing Pavilion Partners, which owns PNC Pavilion, the concert facility, and Live Nation Entertainment, which owns Pavilion Partners, and Legends Hospitality, which provided food and drink the night of the concert on June 17, 2016.
Among the claims in the Wallace lawsuit is that Pavilion Partners and Live Nation failed to have an “adequate number” of security officers around the VIP parking lot, failed to intervene during the beating and took no action to prevent the alleged attackers and their party from drinking excessive amounts of alcohol in the VIP parking lot. The suit also states that Legends “served copious amounts of additional alcoholic beverages to the alleged attackers and their party during the concert.’’
MORE: Listen to 911 calls from the incident
Paul Lucas was cited with four misdemeanor charges, and his brother, Nathan, and Randolph Taylor Mangum were cited with two misdemeanor charges each in the incident.
The trial ended in a mistrial when prosecutors realized that potential witnesses had been in the courtroom for some testimony. A new trial was never scheduled, and the charges were later dropped at the request of Wallace and his family.
According to Wallace’s suit, the incident started after the show when Wallace, “in a friendly manner, asked how the group enjoyed the concert.’’
The suit states that Nathan Lucas began yelling obscenities at Wallace and launched himself from the back of a pickup truck at Wallace, striking Wallace in the head. Wallace lost consciousness, according to the suit, but Lucas continued to punch Wallace.
The suit states that Wallace’s daughter, Lindsey Van Wingerden, went to protect her father but she was grabbed and choked by another member of the group and repeatedly punched and kicked. She eventually got up before Paul Lucas, according to the suit, knocked her to the ground and repeatedly kicked her in the stomach and chest. Her husband sought to protect her and was repeatedly kicked and punched.
The civil suit states that Wallace suffered a likely concussion, lost a tooth, had 12 stitches inside his mouth and that his “entire body was covered with bruises for weeks following the assault.’’
The suit also states that Wallace continues to suffer from blurred vision in his right eye and is unable to race because of the eye injury. The suit states Wallace had to turn down an opportunity to drive multiple Monster Energy Cup races and missed on the chance to earn $200,000.
Wallace’s daughter suffered a broken wrist and broken ribs. The suit states that she has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and “has had an enormously difficult time readjusting to ‘normal life.’ She lives in constant fear of being attacked in places where she otherwise would feel safe.’’
Van Wingerden’s husband, Thomas, suffered a dislocated shoulder, cut lip and abrasions. Wallace’s wife was bruised.
Wallace and his family are suing for gross negligence. They seek actual and punitive damages.