Incidents at Aventura Mall highlight South Florida premise liability, negligent security issues
What started with a brawl between two minors waiting in a movie ticket line quickly spread to a melee involving hundreds of teens gathered at Aventura Mall Saturday night, the Miami Herald reports. Before the chaos was quelled, mall security and dozens of law enforcement officers from different agencies around Miami-Dade descended on the crowd. Twelve minors were arrested. Taser stun guns were used on four.
Three juveniles were charged with felonies and taken to the Juvenile Assessment Center for processing and the rest were released to their parents. This is the second time in five years minors were charged due to incidents involving mall security, law enforcement and Taser stun guns at Aventura. In both incidents, law enforcement and juveniles sustained minor injuries.
Mall management and property owners have a legal obligation to ensure a safe environment for patrons and employees. A serious premises liability injury was fortunately avoided in the Saturday brawl, which ultimately involved hundreds of children and adults. An injury due to premise liability or negligent security can occur at any time as a result of a host of unsafe conditions, including inadequate crowd management and control.
Experienced South Florida premise liability attorneys with Freeman & Mallard understand the complexities of such litigation and are dedicated to fighting for the rights of victims and their families in West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Port St. Lucie/Fort Pierce and the surrounding area.
The day after the incident Aventura Mall was seeing a steady stream of business as usual. When interviewed, mall shoppers were equally concerned and unfazed. Mall management and police are set to meet this week to discuss Saturday night’s events.
