The family of former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock has withdrawn its wrongful death lawsuit.
Hancock died in a car crash after a ballgame in April. Hancock’s father, Dean Hancock, filed the lawsuit in May. The lawsuit named several people and places, alleging that they played a role in Hancock’s death. Prominent among those listed were Mike Shannon’s Steaks and Seafood and restaurant manager Pat Shannon Van Matre; a tow truck driver and the company for which he worked as well as the owner of the disabled car the tow truck had stopped to help.
Police reports say Hancock was drunk, talking on the cell phone and speeding when he crashed into the back of the tow truck stopped on Highway 40 in St. Louis. Hancock had been drinking at the restaurant owned by Cardinals’ broadcaster Mike Shannon prior to the wreck. The state conducted two investigations of the restaurant and cleared it of wrongdoing.
An attorney for the Hancock family filed the motion to dismiss the lawsuit “without prejudice”, which leaves open the possibility of re-filing it. The motion was filed just prior to a hearing before a St. Louis Circuit Court judge on the merits of the case.
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