Family Sues Manassas Gas Station After Son's Death

The parents of Bo Rupp, a 15-year-old Centreville boy who died last year after drinking Four Loko, are suing Phusion Projects, the drink’s maker, the drink’s bottling company, and the that allegedly sold the teenager the drink.

The complaint, filed May 19 in Cook County Circuit Court where Phusion Projects is located, alleges that Bo Rupp bought Four Loko, an alcoholic energy drink, from the RaceWay gas station at 7402 Sudley Rd. on Sept. 24. 

“The clerk allowed them to pay for the Four Loco [sic], and later brought the beverage out to their car in a paper bag,” the complaint states.

The next day, Rupp and his friends attended a concert at Jiffy Lube Live, and before going, consumed “a quantity of Four Loko . . . equaling two cans of the beverage, and consumed nothing else that evening that contained caffeine or alcohol.”

Karla, Bo’s mother, picked up his son after the concert, who allegedly “became increasingly paranoid and disoriented.” When they got home, Bo ran onto the street, and after some time ran into Pleasant Valley Road.

Tht's when Rupp collapsed or fell onto the road and was struck by a car early on Sept. 26.

on the grounds that Four Loko is allegedly dangerous and defective because it masks intoxication, desensitizes the user to symptoms of intoxication, increases the risk of engaging in violent or high-risk physical behaviors, and allegedly targets college-aged and underaged consumers. It is also priced cheaply to be affordable to those consumers, and is sold at convenience stores “where clerks are less likely to check identification to verify a consumer’s age, or may even fail to recognize Four Loko as a product containing alcohol.”

The complaint asks for monetary damages for medical bills and funeral expenses from Bo’s death, as well as for “the loss of the valuable services of their son, and have been deprived of the support, affection, society, companionship, and consortium” that Bo would’ve provided.

The court date for the lawsuit is not currently available.

A manager at the local RaceWay declined to comment on the lawsuit. 

A second suit against Phusion Projects was filed in Illinois Northern District Federal Court May 19 by its insurance company, Selective Insurance of South Carolina, which argues that Selective isn’t liable for any damages that might be owed to Rupp or other families that are currently suing Phusion for death or injuries as a result of Four Loko.

Selective argues the policy they have no liability because all of the injuries or deaths occurred after May 6, 2010, when their policy was cancelled, and that their policy is not liable for injury or death from intoxication.