Lawsuit: Elgin man got drunk at Wisconsin Dells resort before crash that killed him, injured 5
A lawsuit claims a Wisconsin Dells water park was negligent for serving alcohol to an Elgin man who later collided his Mercedes-Benz with another vehicle near Woodstock, critically injuring a family of four.
McHenry County authorities said that Abuzar Zaidi, 33, of Elgin, was drunk on the afternoon of Feb. 16, 2025, when he caused the crash, in which he was killed.
Investigators said Zaidi had a blood-alcohol concentration of .357 percent, more than four times the legal threshold, when he drove a 2018 Mercedes-Benz GLA Class east along Route 14 with a 6-year-old passenger.
Authorities said he tried to pass a truck pulling a trailer in a no-passing zone, then collided head-on with a Toyota 4Runner in the westbound lane carrying the Murphy family.
According to an online fundraiser, the child traveling with Zaidi was his son, who suffered serious injuries but survived.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the Murphy family of Cross Plains, Wisconsin, asserts Zaidi had been drinking alcohol at the Kalahari water park before the crash.
“As he pulled out into the westbound lane … Zaidi violently collided head on with Plaintiffs’ vehicle at highway speeds,” according to the lawsuit filed by Griffin Purnell LLC.
At about 3:15 p.m. on that day, Quin Murphy, 43, was driving home after his 11-year-old child Georgia’s volleyball game in Chicago. His wife, Jennifer Murphy, 43, was in the passenger seat, and Georgia and the couple’s other child, Charlie, 13, were in the back seat, according to the lawsuit and Shaw Local coverage.
The suit said the family suffered painful injuries whose impact on their lives is permanent.
“As a result of the … vehicle crash and the negligence and/or willful and wanton conduct of Defendant Zaidi, Plaintiffs each suffered personal injuries which required and will continue to require medical care and associated expense and have caused and will continue to cause pain, suffering, limitations on activity, and loss of enjoyment of life, that are permanent in nature, all to their damage in an amount to be determined by a jury,” the lawsuit claims.
The complaint names Kalahari Resorts LLC and Zaidi, accusing them of negligence, negligence per se, and willful and wanton conduct.
Kalahari “is directly and strictly liable to each Plaintiff in an amount to be proven at trial,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit also names Kim Dominik of Rockton as a defendant. According to police, Dominik was traveling behind the Murphys’ Toyota during the collision, and she hit the left rear of the Toyota while trying to avoid the initial crash.
An organizer of a GoFundMe set up last February for the Murphy family wrote that the family had “sustained severe injuries” and each had been hospitalized in different facilities. In August, a post was written saying that after 170 days in the hospital, Georgia “is finally home — and the Murphy family is back under one roof.”
Attempts to reach Kalahari’s and Dominik’s attorneys were not successful. However, attorneys for Dominik have filed a motion seeking to dismiss her from the lawsuit. A court date is set for May 11 for that motion.
Neither the Murphy family nor their attorneys could be reached. No representative was listed in court files on Zaidi’s behalf.