Do I have a case against a parking garage where I was mugged?
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Do I have a case against a parking garage where I was mugged?
I was jumped by a transient just inside the
entrance to a parking garage in a downtown
area in broad daylight. I was knocked to the
ground and sustained fairly minor injuries, and
was able to subdue the attacker until police
arrived. I was taken to the hospital by
ambulance, and released later that day.
The parking garage caught everything on
camera. However, it took several minutes for
the manager to emerge from their office to
assist me, and I noticed that there were several
security guards on duty, hanging out in the
office area. Apparently none were patrolling the
premises closeby when this occurred, and no
one came immediately in the aftermath. I was
left to get assistance from passersby in the first
several minutes after the attack.
Do I have a case and is the parking garage
owner negligent here?
Thanks.
Asked on April 11, 2017 under Personal Injury, Colorado
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
You *may* have a case for liability, or to hold them responsible, if given the neighborhood, the crime rate in the area, the past history of crimes (if any) at this or nearby locations, it was unreasonable (or negligent) to not have officers patrolling and if such patrols would likely have detered the attack (or, to put it another way, if you can show by evidence that it is more likely that the attack occured due to the lack of patrols or otherwise better security). If the slowness or lack of response caused you some injury or harm (e.g. the delay in getting you help caused an injury to get worse, causing some permanent disabilty or impairment that would not otherwise have happened had you received prompt help), you could posssibly hold them liable for that, too.
But even if they are liable, they are only liable for the actual physical injuries, medical costs, monetary losses, and/or lost wages you suffered due to their inaction. If, as you write, you suffered only minor injuries and were released from the hospital the same day, and presumably did not have anything stolen (since you subdued your attacker and he would not have gotten away with anything you owned), there would be no point in suing: the amount of money or compensation you could get in the circumstances you describe, since your injuries and losses were evidently slight, would not justify the cost and effort of a lawsuit.
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