A retired New Jersey police officer is suing an Atlantic City restaurant, alleging a draft beer he ordered three years ago contained a corrosive cleaner that severely injured him.
Fifty-three-year-old Richard Washart says one swing of the beer at McCormick and Schmick's in Harrah's Atlantic City led him to immediately feel a searing pain and vomit blood. The lawsuit says he was hospitalized for a week and the liquid had burned away part of his stomach lining.
Washart said a doctor said he had ingested a lye-like substance.
His lawyer claims managers at the restaurant said beer distributor Kramer Beverage cleaned the beer lines. The company is named in the lawsuit. Its CEO says they weren't there the day Washart was injured.
The restaurant didn't return calls for comment.
