Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Florida
Stolen car in mall parking
My car was stolen in a large shopping mall's parking lot where I'm employed. I advised security immediately about the incident, but they acted, in my opinion, very inadequately. They told me they needed to search the entire mall's parking lot for the car before the police could be called even though I assured them that I had been employed for five months and therefore park in the same place all the time. The search took about 10-15 minutes. During much of this time my managers were with me as well as my brother who came as soon as I called him. After about 10 minutes of the beginning of the 'search' my manager told me I was better off to call the police myself. At this point, the police came almost immediately to aid me. Was there any sort of negligence on the behalf of the mall security? Is it not their responsibility to spot suspicious activity and therefore prevent my car from getting broken into and stolen? I also found it very absurd that they followed such a time consuming protocol. My car only had personal injury protection and therefore I have lost my vehicle entirely. Can I seek reparations?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Stolen car in mall parking
Maybe. If the car could have been recovered had they immediately called the police, you might have a case. I think it was negligent for them to search the entire lot, but it may not matter if the short time it took to search wouldn't have helped anyway.
In terms of their watching the lot, I think a jury would agree that they can't be everywhere all at once.
Re: Stolen car in mall parking
I think that you are out of luck. Nothing prevented you from calling the police yourself. The delay was almost certainly irrelevant. It is only in the very rarest of circumstances that the mall would have any liability for your stolen car and I see nothing in your facts that would indicaye that they bear any responsibility here.
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