Widow files suit against husband's assailant, taverns

PHOTOGRAPHER: Stephen Williams

The widow of a Milton man who died after hitting his head on a cement floor in a brief but violent barroom encounter in Saratoga Springs a year ago is suing his assailant and the Caroline Street bars where she says the man drank that night.

The lawsuit filed by Alisa Huggins on behalf of Aaron L. Huggins’ estate seeks unspecified monetary damages from Jeffrey Dwight Mann Jr. of Lake George, who pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide and second-degree assault, and is now serving up to four years in state prison. Huggins has an infant son.

Also named in the lawsuit filed in state Supreme Court for Saratoga County are the Paddock Bar, where the incident between Mann and Huggins took place early on the morning of Sept. 19, 2014, and three other nearby bars where Mann is believed to have consumed alcohol: the Caroline Street Pub, the Tin and Lint, and the City Tavern. The lawsuit contends that they contributed to Mann’s intoxication, and the Paddock should not have permitted him on the premises because of his intoxication.

Mann has admitted in court that he he “recklessly and negligently” slammed Huggins to the cement floor of the bar after what police said was an apparently minor dispute. Huggins, 31, suffered a traumatic brain injury when his head hit the floor, and he died of his injuries on Sept. 24, five days after the assault.

Mann, 27, of Lake George, was sentenced in late July to serve 1 2/3 to 4 years in state prison. He also must spend three years under post-release supervision.

Police said Huggins had only a brief encounter with Mann. Investigators said the two men brushed against each other in the uncrowded bar around 2:15 a.m., touching off a brief verbal exchange. When Huggins started to walk away, police said Mann grabbed him around the neck with his arm and flung him to the floor. The incident was captured on a security video.

Mann was briefly detained by bouncers, but left the bar before the full extent of Huggins’ injuries were known. Police said he attempted to downplay the incident when they stopped him later that night in Greenfield.