The Haggard Law Firm’s Douglas McCarron has secured a $10 Million settlement in a negligent security catastrophic injury case.

The names involved in this case are confidential per the terms of the agreement. On the night of January 18^th, 2021, the Plaintiff was asleep in his apartment located in Tallahassee. He was seemingly safe at home with his wife by his side. He was awakened by loud banging and the barking of the family dog. The Plaintiff got out of bed and put clothes on and walked to the front door of the apartment.  The loud banging persisted as he approached the door.  It only stopped when the Plaintiff got to the door and looked through the peephole.  The Plaintiff said he only saw darkness when looking through the peephole.  He cracked open the front door to further investigate.  Within a second, the Plaintiff was shot. 

The police investigation uncovered that the Plaintiff was not the target of the attack.  Instead, it was likely the shooter was there to confront an unauthorized neighbor living in one of his family member’s apartments.  

The bullet struck the Plaintiff in the chest and changed his life forever. He immediately lost sensation in his lower extremities and fell to the ground. The young man was rushed to the hospital, and only the heroic efforts of emergency personnel and doctors prevented this from being a wrongful death case.

The Plaintiff has been left a paraplegic.

The apartment complex’s security measures at the time of the shooting and in the several years before were wholly inadequate. The tenants and their guests were on their own. At only 26 years of age, Plaintiff suffered catastrophic injuries leaving him a T4 paraplegic. 

The reported crimes within the quarter mile of the complex include armed robberies, assaults, batteries, burglaries, auto thefts, drug violations, prostitution, sexual batteries, and trespassing.  All of these crimes are indicators of future crime as well as other more serious types of violent crime. Specifically, in the few short years leading up to the Plaintiff being shot, there was a number of violent crimes (armed robbery, aggravated assault, assault, batteries) that occurred within the apartment complex.  The types and frequency of these crimes served as notice to the Defendants that people were entering the community who did not belong and committing crime within it.

Despite the alarming crime rate, the Defendants only hired manned security for the property for 18 hours per week at a cost of $162. 

Minimal patrols at night, no access control, abhorrent lighting, and no surveillance cameras – was the security program for the complex. These failures led to this senseless and tragic shooting.

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The Haggard Law Firm’s Pedro Echarte along with co-counsel Joey Rafaeli, Esq of Rafaeli Law and Erik Feingold, Esq of Myers Widders Gibson Jones & Feingold, have obtained a $2 Million policy limit settlement in an Orlando-area negligent security wrongful death case. The case involved the shooting death of a vacation home rental guest.

On July 21, 2021, Jeremiah Brown was carjacked, shot, and killed while in ChampionsGate in Davenport, Florida. The community is a vacation rental community located in Osceola County, close to Disney World and other amusement parks and resorts.

Laurie Brown with her son Jeremiah

Jeremiah was on vacation and staying in the community with his girlfriend and her children. They had rented an Airbnb. Jeremiah did not know the community had been targeted by criminals committing vehicle burglaries and car thefts in the months leading up to his death.  

On the night in question, Jeremiah left his Airbnb (located at 9045 Stinger Dr.) in his rental car and was approached at a nearby intersection in the community by the assailants, Tyrell Johnson and Jimmy Robinson. They carjacked him and shot and killed him in the process.

Subsequent investigation revealed that the assailants had affiliations with a gang in Apopka suspected to have committed various crimes (burglaries, car thefts, etc.) within Champtions Gate in the months leading up to the homicide. Jeremiah, who was from Georgia, was unaware of the prior crime in the community and was never warned or notified of the issues prior to renting the Airbnb by the host, community, management, or security.

RAMCO Protective of Orlando, Inc., was hired by Champions Gate to control access to the community and provide security guards to be posted at the guardhouses at the various entrances to the sprawling community. A review of surveillance footage revealed that on the night in question the assailants accessed the community by driving past the guardhouse through the exit lanes to the community, which did not have physical access control barriers to prevent such activity (i.e., no swing arms, etc.). Despite there being two security guards in the guardhouse, the assailants went undetected as they drove into the community through the exit lanes around the guardhouse and by passing the physical access control barriers in the entrance lanes. Shortly after gaining access to the community, they came upon Jeremiah, who was in his rental vehicle at an intersection. They approached him, tried to carjack him, and eventually shot and killed him. Jeremiah left behind his two surviving parents who are the statutory survivors under Florida law.

Plaintiff’s claims against RAMCO Protective of Orlando, Inc., centered on the security guards’ active negligence in failing to detect and stop the assailants from entering the community – i.e., their primary responsibility. Plaintiff claimed that they breached their duties, which included controlling access to the community, which resulted in Jeremiah’s death. Moreover, Plaintiff claimed that RAMCO Protective of Orlando, Inc., should have been hyper-vigilant in performing its duties because of both the prior crime occurring in the community and the fact that the majority of people inside Champions Gate were vacationers and tourists, who are known targets for criminals in the area.  

Shortly after filing the lawsuit, Plaintiff sent a policy limit demand to RAMCO Protective of Orlando, Inc. The demand was accepted and the policy limits timely tendered. The case remains open against several remaining Defendants, including the community, subdivision, host, and property management companies involved in the operation of both the Airbnb unit and the community.  

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The Haggard Law Firm’s Michael Haggard and Adam Finkel obtained a $1 Million settlement in a wrongful death negligent security case.

On Thursday, April 29, 2021, at around 1:00 p.m., Kelvin Bonham was riding a bicycle to his friend’s house within the Gwen Cherry housing projects in Miami-Dade County.

He passed a Feick Security guard and waved, as the guard recognized him from the neighborhood. Shortly after entering the property, Kelvin was confronted, shot, and killed by an unknown person.

On behalf of Kelvin’s children, Haggard and Finkel filed a lawsuit against Feick Security and Miami-Dade County. While the security company had guards on duty at the time of the shooting, discovery revealed that Feick was expected to serve as the County’s security expert, and advise the County if changes needed to be made to the security measures at this property.

Feick did no such thing. Despite the staggering history of crime, and knowing the community needed more guards, Feick never asked and underreported crime to the County.

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The Haggard Law Firm’s Michael Haggard and Kimberly Wald obtained a $1 Million settlement in a car crash case. 

The highly contested liability car crash case included disputes involving causation, future care, and life expectancy issues. Per terms of the settlement, the names of the parties involved and the nature of the crash are confidential.  

The Haggard Law Firm has decades of experience in obtaining justice for victims of negligence who suffer from traumatic brain and other catastrophic injuries.

For decades, The Haggard Law Firm has successfully litigated and settled hundreds of claims involving all types of motor vehicle accident cases, including pedestrian/auto; bicycle/auto accidents; multiple car crashes, and crashes resulting from the defendant being distracted while using a cell phone.

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The Haggard Law Firm’s Michael Haggard and Kimberly Wald obtained a $1 Million settlement in a car crash case. 

Per terms of the settlement, the names of the parties involved and the nature of the crash are confidential. The Haggard Law Firm’s client, “John Doe” sustained a traumatic brain injury and lost a portion of his memory as a result of the crash. 

The Haggard Law Firm has decades of experience in obtaining justice for victims of negligence who suffer from traumatic brain and other catastrophic injuries.

For decades, The Haggard Law Firm has successfully litigated and settled hundreds of claims involving all types of motor vehicle accident cases, including pedestrian/auto; bicycle/auto accidents; multiple car crashes, and crashes resulting from the defendant being distracted while using a cell phone.

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The Haggard Law Firm’s Douglas McCarron and co-counsel Eric Romano of the Romano Law Firm have secured a $1 Million pre-suit, policy limit settlement in a dram shop (liquor liability) wrongful death case.

On July 31^st, 2021, Thomas Lewis attempted to break up a fight that began in the Foster’s Too Lounge.  During that effort, Thomas was hit over the head with multiple beer bottles by overserved patrons.  The attack killed him. 

Fosters Too was a local bar open all night and had an inordinate number of regulars.  The Haggard Law Firm’s investigation revealed that these regulars routinely drank to excess, and some were prone to start fights and cause problems.  The individuals who killed Thomas did frequent the Palm Beach County bar and were known troublemakers.  Before the attack, the assailants had been drinking at the bar for hours.  These individuals were known to the bartenders and staff.  Despite their apparent intoxication, the bartenders continued to serve them alcohol.  

The assailants started a confrontation with Thomas’ friend within 10 minutes of the attack on Thomas.  While the confrontation was short, Foster’s security intervened and broke it up.  Despite the attackers’ actions and apparent intoxication, they were not removed from the bar and were actually served more alcohol.  

Predictably, the assailants again started another verbal altercation. Thomas made an effort to remove his friend from the situation when he was attacked.  The injuries Thomas sustained from this alcohol-fueled rampage ended his life, and left his wife, Cyndi, a widow.

McCarron and Romano made a claim against the bar for its negligent service of alcohol to the assailants.  The evidence showed that the assailants were regulars and were known to be habitually addicted to alcohol.  The continued service of alcohol to these known alcoholics was a proximate legal cause of why the incident took place. 

The Defendant paid it’s insurance policy limit before a lawsuit was filed.

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The Haggard Law Firm’s Michael Haggard and Kimberly Wald obtained a $1 Million pre-suit policy limit settlement in a dram shop case in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

The names of the parties involved are confidential per the terms of the settlement.

The victim, John Doe, was crossing a highway early in the morning when a drunk driver ran him over and killed him.  The driver had been drinking at a club earlier that night. Wald and Haggard argued that the club knew or should have known about the driver’s habitual drinking activities and should have never continued to serve him alcohol at the club.

John Doe was survived by his wife and two minor children.

Florida law provides that if establishments such as hotels, restaurants, or bars knowingly serve minors or habitual abusers of alcohol, they may become liable for any injuries or damage resulting from that patron’s intoxication. That word “knowingly” is what makes the Florida statute so restrictive.

Despite the challenges posed by state law, The Haggard Law Firm has successfully represented victims of restaurant or bar negligence for three decades. The successful conclusion of these cases has served to more clearly define the responsibilities of establishments serving liquor.

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The Haggard Law Firm’s Douglas McCarron and Kimberly Wald have obtained a $7,509,000 verdict following a three-day trial in Alachua County, FL.

The trial involved a shooting that occurred at the Swamp Car Wash in Gainesville. Prior to trial, the Defendant, Kokomo Key Properties Inc., only offered $250,000 to resolve this matter despite having a larger insurance policy.

On May 22, 2021, Bobby Hopkins went to a self-service car wash when he and an acquaintance got into a dispute which led to Bobby getting shot and ultimately passing away. The car wash had a history of violent crime at its property and the owners failed to take any steps to protect their customers, such as hiring off-duty police to protect the patrons of the car wash.

The Haggard Law Firm is pleased to have obtained justice for this deserving family and to hold business owners accountable to secure and protect their properties.

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The Haggard Law Firm’s Michael Haggard and Adam Finkel secured a $4 Million Settlement in a negligent security wrongful death case involving a father of three.

Late in the evening of June 19, 2020, into the morning of June 20, Dishawn Reynolds-El drove to The Abbey apartments in Riviera Beach, Florida to meet with his girlfriend. They chose The Abbey at Northlake Apartments, as Dishawn’s girlfriend’s daughter lived there. After meeting up, they left the complex but later returned to drop Dishawn’s girlfriend off at her car. They did not know that Dishawn’s girlfriend’s husband was waiting for them. An argument ensued and ultimately the husband, Terrance Bythwood, shot and killed Dishawn.

He is survived by a middle school-aged daughter, a high school senior son, and an adult son.

Haggard and Finkel filed suit against the owners and managers of the apartment complex, alleging that they failed to implement reasonably necessary security measures that would have prevented Dishawn’s death. Specifically, the front gates to the complex were broken and there were no guards patrolling at the time of the shooting.

Attorneys for The Abbey rejected these arguments and highlighted the hiring of three courtesy officers to live and work on the property, and that there had been no shootings or stabbings in the last several years. Additionally, during the pendency of this civil case, Bythwood pled guilty to manslaughter and later testified in this civil case that Dishawn was the aggressor. Further, as Dishawn was not invited to enter the property by his girlfriend’s daughter, the defense argued that he was a trespasser, and therefore the property owners and managers did not owe him a reasonable duty of care.

Days before trial was set to begin, the defense agreed to pay $4 Million Dollars to settle the wrongful death claim.

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