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The Haggard Law Firm’s Adam Finkel and Michael Haggard held a press conference to announce the $5.5 Million settlement with Spitzer Autoworld in the wrongful death case of 3-year-old Anthony Rojo De Leon.
The child was killed on Valentine’s Day when the General Manager of the dealership recklessly drove a vehicle off the road.
“On September 14th, 2020 on behalf of our clients, The Estate of Frank Ordonez and Carlos Lara, The Haggard Law Firm filed a lawsuit in Broward County Circuit Court, stemming from the incident on December 15th , 2019, when Mr. Ordonez, a UPS driver, was shot and killed amid the crossfire between the Defendants, six local police departments, and two assailants who took Ordonez hostage following a robbery in Coral Gables. The Defendants’ reckless shooting also lead to serious injuries suffered by Mr. Lara, and killed another innocent civilian, Richard Cutshaw.
We hope the Defendant-Police Departments will release copies of their Body Worn Camera Footage and patrol car radio transmissions. The Ordonez and Lara families – and the public – have the right to know what happened, and how law enforcement reacted on this tragic day.
It is in the best interest of this very emotional case for the Ordonez and Lara families that no further comment beyond this statement is given at this time. As more evidence is released, the families and our attorneys will grant interviews.
What happened that day should never have occurred. “
Adam Finkel and Michael Haggard, The Haggard Law Firm
The Haggard Law Firm’s Adam Finkel and Michael Haggard have obtained settlements totaling $1,450,000.00 in three negligent security cases involving three victims who were seriously injured in two separate shootings. Both incidents occurred at the same Duval County (FL) apartment complex.
On April 15, 2018, a nineteen-year-old man left his apartment in the early morning to pick up his basketball sneakers from his cousin. When walking back to his apartment, an unknown male shot him from behind. The shooting victim (Plaintiff) was rushed to the hospital and underwent immediate surgery.
December 15, 2018, at the same complex, John Doe (Plaintiff) was returning to the apartment complex to drop off his minor son and nephew at his mother’s home when a vehicle entered the complex, undeterred, and unchecked. Someone exited the vehicle and shot John Doe in the chest as he approached his mother’s front door. His niece (Plaintiff), a minor, was standing at the door and was also struck by a bullet.
Per the terms of the settlements, the names of the victims and the defendant are confidential.
The Haggard Law Firm’s Todd Michaels and Michael Haggard have earned a $1 Million policy limit settlement in wrongful death negligent security case of 30-year-old Omarie Stephens was shot and killed at the Lauderhill Mall on Easter Day of 2018.
After spending Easter morning with his family, he went to a car show in a park with his brother and friends. After the show, he went to a restaurant located in Lauderhill Mall to eat. When Omarie and his group arrived at the mall there was a large party going on in the parking lot. The car show had relocated to the mall, which was closed (except for a few tenants including the restaurant).
Video surveillance showed thousands of cars and people in the mall parking lot. Evidence also showed that people were drinking alcohol and doing drugs. The mall’s parking lot had basically turned into an open-air unsupervised night club.
The Mall had retained State Security to provide security. After the mall closed (other than the few late-night tenants) security was supposed to perform constant patrols in the lot and remove trespassers immediately. The evidence clearly showed that over a period of hours, revelers descended on the property, and security was nowhere to be found. They made no attempt to remove people from the property or to contact the police as they were ordered.
In a deposition, the security guard claimed that he encountered a police officer on the property and asked him for help as justification for why he decided not to call police. Police records and the surveillance video disapprove this. After being confronted with the evidence, the security guard admitted he had not come to the front of the mall during the three hour period that people were gathering at the property.
During the gathering, two men got into a fight leading to gunshots. Mr. Stevens, and innocent bystander, was shot and killed. Stephens survived by two minor daughters.
LEARN MORE ABOUT OTHER NOTABLE HAGGARD LAW FIRM NEGLIGENT SECURITY CASES
The Haggard Law Firm’s Douglas McCarron has secured a $10 Million settlement in a negligent security case. Several details of the case are confidential per terms of the settlement.
The Haggard Law Firm’s client was driving through the apartment complex on his way to meet a friend. As John Doe drove he heard shots, a bullet pierced through the trunk of his car and struck him in his lower back. Doe immediately lost sensation in his lower extremities, and he was unable to control or stop his vehicle before it crashed into parked cars in the parking lot.
The Haggard Law Firm’s Pedro Echarte has obtained a $2 Million settlement for a musician who was severely injured in an attempted armed robbery. Many of the details of the case are confidential per the terms of the settlement.
The Haggard Law client was shot twice while attempting to visit his sister at an apartment complex in Miami Gardens. He was approached by three young teenagers as he exited his car. After they brandished firearms and demanded his backpack, the Plaintiff dropped his backpack and began to run away when the teenagers began to shoot him. The Plaintiff was shot three times.
He was taken to Aventura Hospital where he remained for over two weeks. The young man underwent several surgical procedures during his initial hospital stay to repair his fractured pelvis, a laceration to his liver, and perforation of his colon. After he was discharged from his initial hospital stay, the Plaintiff returned to the hospital after he developed an infection in his abdomen. He was again released from the hospital, but he continued to treat with his doctors as a result of nerve damage in his elbow, which affected his ability in his hand – namely, his pinky and ring fingers. Despite the treatment, the damage became permanent. His pinky and ring fingers formed a claw due to the severity of nerve damage.
Echarte said about the negligent security case: “No amount can fix the physical injuries and emotional impact that a vicious criminal attack had on this young man. What occurred here could have been prevented with proper security measures, but yet the property did nothing to protect its residents and their guests despite a documented history of crime at the property. Our team joins our client and his family in the hope that this final result will motivate this property, and others like it, to improve security measures. “
Opa-Locka, FL – Palmer Properties has agreed to a $1 Million pre-suit policy limits settlement with the Estate of Wayne Mitchell who was killed by a neighbor at a Palmer Property-owned apartment complex.
Mitchell was shot and killed two days after his 50th birthday on the grounds of an apartment complex located at 2170 Washington Avenue in Opa-Locka, Florida. On January 7, 2019, Carlos Flores ambushed Mitchell in a hallway of the apartment complex both men lived in. Flores shot Mitchell as he exited his own unit. An investigation revealed that Flores, who had a violent and lengthy criminal history, was jealous that the building had hired Mitchell instead of him as a handyman.
Continue reading “Apartment Complex Agrees to $1 Million Policy Limit Settlement in Handyman Murder Case”Pensacola, FL – Michael Haggard and Christopher Marlowe have settled the negligent security wrongful death lawsuits involving the abduction and murder of 12-year-old Naomi Jones.
Claims against the principal defendant, the management company of the Pensacola apartment complex where she was abducted, were resolved under confidential terms.
The lawsuit against the owner of the apartment complex was resolved for policy limits of $2,000,000.
Continue reading “Settlement in Naomi Jones Negligent Security Wrongful Death Case”Congratulations to trial lawyers Michael Haggard and Pedro Echarte for obtaining a $1.5 million wrongful death negligent security case in Miami-Dade County.
Some details of the case have been withheld due to terms of confidentiality. What we can report is that the victim was shot during an attempted armed robbery after leaving an automated teller machine (ATM). The victim was an adult and left behind his elderly mother, who he lived with and was the sole survivor to the claim.
If you or your loved one have been a victim of a crime on a commercial property or at a business, you may have a negligent security case. Contact us at 305.446.5700 or click here
Over the years The Haggard Law Firm has earned more than $500 million in verdicts and settlements in this area of personal injury law practice. Negligent security cases are often referred to our firm by lawyers from around the country. Click to see notable cases
The $12 Million verdict in a wrongful death negligent security case against a Hialeah hotel was upheld by the 3rd District Court of Appeals.
The court’s opinion is attached below.
Haggard Law Firm lawyer Christopher Marlowe, who tried the case, said about the affirmed verdict “this opinion is significant to all personal injury cases where there are allegations of the victim’s use of drugs or other intoxicants. By adopting the well-established evidentiary requirement from a criminal law opinion, the Court made clear that a positive drug test, by itself, is not enough to slander the victim as having been ‘under the influence.’ ”
Synopsis of Case
The victim, Yaimi Machado, was locked out of room 106 of the Chesapeake Motel in Hialeah on April 10, 2016. The victim entered the lobby of the motel in her bra and jeans and asked for room 106 to be opened by the front desk clerk. The clerk instructed the victim to go wait outside the door to room 106. Twenty minutes prior to the victim entering the lobby a man walked in drunk and claimed to be the manager’s son and asked for beer. The front desk clerk sold the man beer despite the motel’s policy only to sell alcohol to guests. The man then asks for a prostitute and the clerk tells the man he needed to find servicewomen outside. The man leaves the lobby and stops at room 104 where a housekeeper is cleaning a room by herself. The man asks the housekeeper for a kiss and then enters room 104 and asks the housekeeper for a second kiss. The housekeeper threatens to call the front desk and the man stands at the door to 104 until he sees the victim walking down the hallway toward him. The door to room 106 was never opened and the last time the victim is seen was walking toward the front entrance in the area where she was brutally murdered by the man.
The Daily Business Review wrote an article about the original verdict on December 5th or 2017: https://www.law.com/dailybusinessreview/sites/dailybusinessreview/2017/12/05/hialeah-motel-slammed-with-12m-verdict-after-womans-murder/
The Haggard Law Firm, P.A. represents the rights of people seriously injured or killed through the fault of others. We are passionately committed to our clients and stress the highest level of personal service, professionalism and case preparation.
