Judge upholds family of drowning victim's suit against bait shop

A McHenry County judge Wednesday denied a request that he throw out a Chicago woman's lawsuit blaming a bait shop for the drowning death of her brother in the Fox River last year.

Judge Michael Caldwell ruled the shop, Gill's Bait Shop in McHenry, and its owner had a legal responsibility to warn boaters that state authorities had closed the river on the day of the drowning because of dangerously high waters.

"Under those conditions, they have a duty to notify," Caldwell said.

The suit alleges the shop gave no such warning to J.C. Trotter, 76, and two friends when they rented a 14-foot boat June 16 to go fishing in the river near Stratton Lock and Dam.

The three were heading toward a small island in the Fox when the boat capsized, plunging them into the swollen river. Witnesses managed to save two of the fishermen, but Trotter's lifejacket slipped off when he fell into the water and he drowned by the time rescuers reached him.

The lawyer for the shop and owner Scott Simpson argued in court Wednesday that, under state law, a body of water is an obvious danger that requires no additional warning.

"We didn't take them out on the water," attorney Robert Martier said. "They went out there alone."

But the attorney for Trotter's family said the shop knew the river was closed to boaters, yet not only rented a boat to Trotter and failed to make him aware of the closing.

"The reality is (the shop) had a duty," attorney Cannon Lambert said. "It is untenable to me to claim that if the defendants knew the river was closed they still had every right to rent that boat for use on the river."

The suit, which seeks a minimum $50,000 in damages, is scheduled to be back in court June 17 for a pretrial status hearing.