NC skateboarder hit by drunk driver claims North Myrtle Beach bars at fault
A North Carolina skateboarder hit by a drunk driver is suing two North Myrtle Beach bars, claiming they continued to serve the driver alcohol when he was already intoxicated.
John Dallas Idol III, of Guilford County, was struck by a vehicle on Aug. 4, 2023, when he was riding his skateboard on Duffy Street, the lawsuit says.
The driver of the vehicle, Robert Buoniconti, of Massachusetts, was charged with driving under the influence by North Myrtle Beach Police. Buoniconti pleaded guilty on Aug. 5, 2024.
Buoniconti, along with Murphy’s on the Beach, Boardwalk Billy’s, Motos Inc. and O-Boy Amusements LLC, was named in the lawsuit filed on Sept. 18, 2025.
A message left with Murphy’s on the Beach was not returned by publication. The phone number to Boardwalk Billy’s would not allow a message to be left.
Idol claims that Murphy’s on the Beach, 2302 N. Ocean Blvd., and Boardwalk Billy’s, 1407 13th Ave. N., sold and served alcoholic beverages to Buoniconti despite “his increasing and obvious intoxication,” the suit said.
The suit claims that employees of the bars served Buoniconti despite the knowledge that he would be driving an automobile while impaired.
The bars and their employees were negligent in failing to stop serving alcoholic beverages to Buoniconti when he became intoxicated, the suit said.
In addition, Buoniconti should have seen Idol on his skateboard; however, he failed to yield the right of way and hit him, the suit said.
The suit claims that Idol was severely and permanently injured from the defendants’ actions.
