By GARY SPROTT
of The Tampa Tribune

     TAMPA - The parents of a man killed in a wreck reach a $1.5 million settlement with a beverage distributor.
     Erik Bearnarth had been back in town just three weeks when the accident happened.
     The 26-year-old video photographer, a graduate of Seminole High School, returned to St. Petersburg from Colorado in late 1998 with his parents. His father had taken a job as a scout for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball, leaving his job as pitching coach for the Colorado Rockies.
     On Nov. 5, Bearnarth and a friend were driving in northeast St. Petersburg when Bearnarth's Nissan Pathfinder was broadsided by a beverage distributor's van that ran a stop sign.
     Bearnarth was thrown from the vehicle. He died in the hospital several hours later. Investigators concluded he wasn't wearing a seat belt.
     Bearnarth's passenger survived; as did the truck driver, who later pleaded no contest to traffic charges. Bearnarth's dog also was killed in the wreck.
     Bearnarth's parents, Larry Sr. and Barbara, sued the Tampa beverage distributor that owned the truck.
     Late Wednesday, after mediation talks, the Bearnarths settled their lawsuit against Sutton Distributing Co. for a lump-sum payment of $1.5 million.
     The St. Petersburg couple, through their attorney, declined to comment on the case or about Erik, the youngest of their four children.
     Palm Harbor lawyer Wil Florin said the Bearnarths are happy the case is over, particularly since the trial was set to begin next week.
     "The family would have had to relive the whole tragedy," Florin said Thursday, "not only the mother and father, but the rest of the family and some friends."
     The settlement, he said, "helps bring some closure to the tragedy."
     Bill Berk, a Miami lawyer representing Sutton, said his clients also are gratified the lawsuit has been resolved.
     "It was truly a tragic accident for which my client is truly remorseful," Berk said, adding that Sutton didn't dispute that its driver ran the stop sign.
     "We are glad that the parents are able to put this behind them to the extent possible," he said.