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The husband of a triathlete killed while running around Harveys Lake is suing the motorist accused of running down his wife, and two nearby businesses where the defendant allegedly had been drinking.

Brian A. Jones, administrator of the estate of Paula Jones, filed suit Tuesday in Luzerne County Court, alleging wrongful death and seeking damages and survival action against Michael Scavone, American Legion Post 672 in Dallas, and several defendants associated with the Grotto Pizza restaurant at Harveys Lake.

Attorney Neil T. O’Donnell, of Kingston, is representing Brian Jones.

Police charged Scavone, 50, of Harveys Lake, on June 12 with homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence of alcohol and related charges, accusing him of striking 31-year-old Paula Jones five days earlier on Lakeside Drive and then driving away.

Jones was transported to Geisinger Wyoming Valley where she died of multiple traumatic injuries, according to a criminal complaint.

Scavone allegedly admitted to driving drunk, and told investigators “he was lucky he made it home.” His blood-alcohol level two hours after the fatal crash was nearly three times the legal limit, police say.

Court records indicate he remains incarcerated for lack of $400,000 bail.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled in the matter for Aug. 31.

Suit names businesses

Brian Jones’s 20-page complaint alleges Scavone had been drinking at both the American Legion and Grotto Pizza prior to the hit-and-run, and says both establishments furnished alcohol to the man despite signs of visible intoxication in violation of state law.

According to the complaint, Scavone had been drinking at one or both of the establishments on June 7, and returned to the home he shares with his mother after consuming “numerous alcoholic beverages.” There he allegedly switched vehicles, as he was too intoxicated to continue driving his motorcycle.

Scavone, now controlling a Honda CRV, then drove back to one or both of the establishments and continued drinking, the complaint says.

After drinking for a period of time, Scavone allegedly got back in his car and struck Paula Jones as she was running along the lake.

The suit alleges negligence on the part of both the American Legion and Grotto Pizza for selling, furnishing or giving alcoholic beverages to Scavone despite being a “person of known untempered habits,” his visible intoxication and his status as a “habitual drunkard.”

A message left for Grotto Pizza co-owner Armand Mascioli was not immediately returned on Friday.

Staff at the American Legion referred a reporter to Pittsburgh-based attorney Timothy Smith, who declined comment.

Failure of training alleged

Brian Jones’s complaint also says the establishments failed to properly train and supervise their employees in the sale of alcohol, failed to enforce policies and procedures and failed to prevent Scavone from driving

Negligence on the part of both the American Legion and Grotto Pizza was a direct cause of the crash that killed Paula Jones, the suit says.

Lumped together in the complaint as “the Grotto Defendants,” the document specifically names Joe Grotto, Inc., Grotto Development Corporation, Pizza Associates, Inc., Pizza Associates of Scranton, Inc., the individuals Dominick Pulieri, Armond Mascioli and Joseph Paglianite and a corporate partnership between the men known Paglianite, Pulieri and Mascioli Partnership.

The complaint also alleges negligence on the part of Scavone, who the document says acted “with total disregard” to Jones’s rights and safety.

The suit seeks damages in excess of $50,000.

Jones
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_paula_jones2.jpg.optimal.jpgJones

Scavone
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_scavone012.jpg.optimal.jpgScavone

By Roger DuPuis

[email protected]

Reach Roger DuPuis at 570-991-6113 or on Twitter @rogerdupuis2.