A civil lawsuit was filed in State Supreme Court Thursday on behalf of the family of William Sager Jr., the Air National Guardsman who was critically injured last year after being pushed down a flight of stairs at Molly's Pub in Buffalo. The man who had been convicted of murder in Sager's death, bar manager Jeffrey Basil, is among the defendants in the suit. Basil will likely face a second criminal trial after a judge, this week, threw out his conviction based on an issue surrounding a juror.
Also named as defendants are the City of Buffalo, the Buffalo Police Department, two off-duty officers working security the night of the attack, and parties associated with the bar.
The Sager family asserts the victim's civil rights were violated, resulting in the 28-year-old's death. The defendants named in attorney Francis M. Letro's suit are:
- City of Buffalo
- Buffalo Police Department
- Daniel Derenda, Commissioner, Buffalo Police Department
- Buffalo Police Benevolent Association
- Buffalo Police Officer Robert Eloff
- Buffalo Police Officer Adam O’Shei
- Jeffrey Basil
- NHUB, Inc. DBA Molly’s Pub
- Norman Habib, owner, NHUB, Inc.
- John Bradley, owner, NHUB, Inc.
- Michael Miranda, landlord, Molly’s Pub
“We concur with the recent report issued by the United States Department of Justice that Bill’s civil rights were violated by the defendants and these violations resulted in the tragic loss of his life,” Letro said, in a statement. “The Sager family and Bill’s fiancé Erika Webster feel very strongly that there needs to be justice for the violations of Bill’s civil rights and we intend to strenuously argue that point in court.”
The timing of the filing coincides with the one year statute of limitations from when the incident occurred on May 11, 2015. Sager died of his injuries on July 31, 2015.
