Lawsuit Filed Against Man Who Is Accused Of Driving Drunk & Causing Car Crash

A Euclid man who is accused of driving while drunk and causing a car crash in Mentor last October is being sued by two women who were in the car he is suspected of hitting.

Anthony Longo, 35, was also charged with two counts of aggravated vehicular assault, vehicular assault and hit-skip and one count of drunken driving and not having a driver's license.

His criminal trial is scheduled to start Feb. 25 in Lake County Court of Common Pleas.

According to police, Longo was driving a 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt on the westbound lanes of Route 2 in Mentor when he rear ended a 1998 Plymouth Neon.

The Neon went to the left side of the road, struck the barrier and rolled onto its hood in the middle of the interstate, police said.

The two women in the car -- Chanei Cable, 22, and Shanice Scott, 23, of Euclid and Cleveland, respectively -- got out of the car and safely to the side of the road. Then a semi truck struck their Neon again.

The Mentor Fire Department took Cable and Scott to Hillcrest Hospital as a safety precaution. Their injuries were not life threatening.

Mentor Police found Longo in the Hopkins-Hendrix neighborhood in the early morning hours.

Cable and Scott filed a suit against both Longo and Katie Hirko. Hirko is the owner of the Cobalt and Cable and Scott said Hirko acted negligently when she allowed Longo to use it.

As per Longo, Cable and Scott said "he negligently, violently and without warning caused his motor vehicle to strike the rear end of (their) car."

The lawsuit claims that they sustained "personal injury, pain, suffering, emotional anguish and loss of enjoyment of life" because of the crash.

In the suit, Scott asked for $100,000 in compensatory damages; Cable, for $150,000. They also asked for $150,000 in punitive damages to be split evenly between them, as well as costs and attorney fees.