BLOOMINGTON — The parents of an Indiana University student Nate Stratton who was struck and killed while riding an electric scooter on Saturday, September 18, 2022, have added Kilroy’s Sports Bar to their lawsuit against the woman accused in their son’s death.
Brad and Elizabeth Stratton initially filed the suit last November against 22-year-old Madelyn Howard. Police arrested Howard, who was drunk when she was driving the car that hit Stratton.
According to the lawsuit, Howard’s blood alcohol concentration tested at 0.226 – nearly three times the legal limit of .08. Howard was drinking at Kilroy’s Sports Bar on North Walnut Street in Bloomington before the crash. The suit claims bar staff continued to serve Howard who was visibly intoxicated. Howard is also an employee at the establishment but was not working that night.
Monroe County Prosecutor Erika Oliphant has filed criminal charges against Howard. She is facing charges of reckless homicide, operating a vehicle with a blood-alcohol greater than 0.08 percent causing death, OWI causing death, and leaving the scene of an accident causing death.
Stratton had just started his junior year at IU, where he was pursuing studies in entrepreneurship. He graduated from Minnetonka High School in 2020, was active in the skiing community, and competed with the club Team Gilboa. He spent many days of his childhood on the slopes of Hyland Hills.
On Saturday, September 18, 2022, at 1:50 a.m. Bloomington Police officers responded to the intersection of North Walnut and 12th streets after a report of an accident with injuries.
Several witnesses called 911 to report the crash. One of the drivers fled the scene and traveled north on Walnut Street at a high rate of speed.
According to Bloomington Police Capt. Ryan Pedigo, the driver of the fleeing vehicle had struck 20-year-old Nathaniel Stratton, of Miromar Lakes, Florida, who was riding an electric scooter. When officers arrived they located Stratton lying along the east edge of the roadway, just north of the intersection. He was badly injured. An ambulance arrived and shortly thereafter he was transported to IU Health Bloomington Hospital.
While Bloomington Police were on the scene, an officer with Indiana University Police Department located the fleeing vehicle at the intersection of 19th and Lincoln Streets.
Bloomington Police responded to the scene and located the black 2012 Mercedes Benz car with damage to the windshield. They located the badly damaged electric scooter nearby.
A security officer that had been driving through the area advised officers that he had seen the car driving north on Lincoln Street and it sounded as if the car was dragging something. The security officer stated that the car stopped at the intersection of 19th and Lincoln Streets and a female got out of the driver’s seat and a male got out of the front passenger seat.
The security officer heard individuals nearby tell the occupants of the vehicle that they were dragging an electric scooter under the car and the bystanders helped the driver remove it just prior to Indiana University Police arriving on the scene.
A video shared by an Uber driver showed the car turning onto 17th Street after the crash, kicking up sparks as it dragged the scooter underneath.
Howard told the officer she left Kilroy’s Sports at 319 North Walnut Street and was taking a friend home because he was too intoxicated to drive. She agreed to drive him home.
Initially, Howard “refused to acknowledge being involved in an accident,” police said, and couldn’t explain what caused the damage to her car. She failed a series of field sobriety tests.
While Howard claimed she didn’t know what happened to her car, her passenger gave police a clearer picture of what transpired. Howard’s passenger recalled being hit by the glass from either the windshield or the passenger window. He asked Howard, “Did you hit someone?”
She replied, “I think I hit somebody,” according to court documents. The passenger said he told Howard to pull over; when they stopped, someone flagged them down to tell them they had a scooter lodged underneath their car. A few people helped them dislodge the scooter before the police arrived.
Howard was transported to the IU Health Bloomington Hospital for a blood draw, then to the Bloomington Police Department for further questioning.
At approximately 6 a.m., on Sunday, Bloomington Police were notified by hospital staff that Stratton had died as a result of injuries sustained in the crash.
Investigators were able to view security camera footage from a business located near the scene of the crash and the involved vehicle can be seen driving by at the time of the crash with the passenger side tires up on the sidewalk on the east side of Walnut Street. The vehicle appears to be traveling at a high rate of speed and an individual on the sidewalk can be seen jumping into the grass to avoid being struck just prior to the vehicle striking Stratton on the scooter.
Howard is free after posting bond on September 21, 2022. She is scheduled for a pretrial conference on July 5, 2023, in Monroe Circuit Court 9 at 2 p.m.
