‘Obviously drunk’: Suit says House of Oliver served driver before fiery Roseville crash killed 4

The wife of one of the victims in the fiery crash that left four Granite Bay men dead late last year has filed a lawsuit, alleging negligence on the part of the driver and the restaurant that served them alcohol.

Sierra Pannu, wife of Karan Pannu, is seeking more than $25,000 in damages and names House of Oliver and the estate of Jerry Cepel, 61, the driver of the vehicle, as defendants in the Placer Superior Court civil filing.

Karan Pannu, 45, was one of the passengers who died instantly when the white Mercedes-Benz C-class sedan crashed into a tree in the area of East Roseville Parkway and Brackenbury Way on December 14. The vehicle caught fire as a result of the impact.

In addition to Pannu and Cepel, Patrick Gainer, 65, and Paul Hammack, 53, were also killed in the crash.

David Martinez, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol, said at the time that the car veered off the roadway at a high rate of speed and crashed “head-on” into a tree before hitting a second tree and coming to rest. All four passengers were pronounced dead at the scene, he said.

The CHP has yet to release whether alcohol was a factor in the crash.

Sierra Pannu’s lawsuit, however, asserts Cepel was “driving over the speed limit and intoxicated” at the time. She also said that the House of Oliver, situated on Douglas and Sierra College boulevards 2½ miles from the crash site, contributed to her husband’s death by continuing to serve Cepel when he was “severely intoxicated and obviously drunk,” according to the complaint.

The lawsuit alleges Cepel became increasingly intoxicated at the restaurant’s Whiskey Wednesday event, which it holds weekly, and servers continued to provide liquor to Cepel despite him being visibly intoxicated.

“The House of Oliver allowed Mr. Cepel to drive,” the lawsuit said.

Nabil Samaan, the attorney for the Pannu family, declined to comment on the lawsuit, adding only that they would amend their complaint against House of Oliver after communicating with the restaurant’s attorneys. He declined to say how the suit would be changed.

Matthew Oliver, owner of House of Oliver, said he was aware of the complaint but had not yet been served with the lawsuit and could not speak to its details.

This story was originally published March 2, 2023 at 5:00 AM.