Woman Suing New Mexico Bar After Fire Escape Fall

A woman seriously hurt after falling through a hole in an old fire escape is suing an Albuquerque bar called the Downtown Distillery.

Lawyers for Jessica Riley say she fractured her pelvis and wrist in the fall last March.

Lawyer Miles Hanisee tells KOAT-TV in Albuquerque that the bar’s on-duty manager let her and a friend go out onto the fire escape to have a cigarette instead of making them go downstairs.

Distillery attorney Tim White says the bar manager and Riley’s friend both say they were not given permission to use the fire escape. White says the case is like a burglary suspect suing because he was hurt breaking into a house.

The case is set for trial in August.