Mother sues over son’s fatal crash

WEST PALM BEACH — The mother of a 16-year-old Jupiter Farms youth who died in a dirt bike accident in January 2017 is suing a neighbor, claiming he allowed her son to drink alcohol before the fatal crash.

In the lawsuit filed last week in Palm Beach County Circuit Court, Yolanda Rook accuses David Hansen of negligence in the death of her son, Liam Maclachlan. The youth was killed when his Yamaha dirt bike crashed into a pickup truck in the northbound lane of Alexander Run in Jupiter Farms, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. At the time, deputies said alcohol was a factor in the crash.

An attorney representing Rook claims Hansen’s house on Alexander Run “was known as a ‘party house’ in which minors could hang out and do drugs and drink alcohol,” On the night of the crash, there was an “open house party” at Hansen’s residence. Maclachlan was allowed to leave on the dirt bike even though Hansen knew the youth was intoxicated, attorney William Zoeller wrote in the lawsuit.

Hansen wasn’t immediately available for comment. Rook is seeking an unspecified amount in damages.

A similar lawsuit was filed last year against Jupiter Farms resident Troy Fike in connection with Maclachlan’s death. A confidential settlement that ended that suit was reached late last year, Zoeller said. A settlement was also reached with the driver of the pickup truck, Peter Kargoll, he said.