Rupp Family Sues Makers of Four Loko

The parents of, a 15-year-old Centreville boy who died last year after sitting in the middle of the road, have filed a lawsuit against the makers of Four Loko, a caffeinated alcoholic drink.

John and Karla Rupp say that Phusion Projects was "negligent and careless" for marketing a drink with 12 percent alcohol that also masks the side effects of intoxication. The lawsuit was filed Thursday in Cook County Circuit Court, Illinois.

"I hope other parents will talk to their children about this drink,'' Karla Rupp said in a press release. "We don't want any other family to go through the sheer terror of losing a child.''

Phusion Projects issued a statement saying their thoughts were with the Rupp family and their loss pointed to the problem of alcohol abuse. They said they try to make sure their products are consumed by people over the age of 21. 

Bo Rupp, then a sophomore at , apparently ran in and out of traffic near his Virginia Run home on Pleasant Valley Road in Centreville, then sat down in the middle of the roadway and was struck by a neighbor's car. He died the next day. 

Karla Rupp last month that her son had brought some iced tea bottles to a concert, which were filled with Four Loko. She alleged that the Manassas convenience store he bought it from went so far as to bring the bottles out to him in a car, knowing that he was underage.The Manassas store is also named in the suit, according to a press release.

"With Four Loko, you can't smell it," Officer Lou Munoz, a school resource officer at , . "So when they come home at the end of the night, as long as they're kinda holding it together a little bit, you're not going to be able to notice it."