LONGVIEW, Texas (AP) -- An East Texas car dealership has settled a lawsuit filed by the widow of a man who killed himself just after dropping out of the dealership's widely recognized Hands on a Hardbody contest.
Details of the settlement between Patterson Nissan and Chalala Gutierrez, the wife of Richard Thomas Vega II, will be
confidential.  Court documents show damages sought in the lawsuit include funeral costs, lost income of about $600,000 and court costs.
Vega dropped out of the 2005 endurance contest just before a scheduled rest break 48 hours into the event.
Witnesses and law officers say Vega crossed the street and broke into a K-Mart where he broke into a gun case then shot himself. Gutierrez alleged in her suit that the dealership was negligent in organizing and conducting the contest. She says the dealership failed to "provide a safe environment for contestants" and did not provide personnel to restrain contestants who "temporarily lost their sanity."
Dealership attorney Adam Allen says Patterson Nissan is happy with the result.
The contest was featured in a 1995 documentary. It has not been restaged since Vega's death. The suit was settled late Thursday.