Spring Breaker Shot in Daytona Will Likely Die, Is the Hotel Liable?
The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports that a 20-year-old man from Oviedo who was in Daytona for spring break was shot three times early Saturday morning and “will die from these injuries shortly.”
Gerold Lee Drosky was shot in the head, hand and groin around 4 a.m. at the Ocean Sands Hotel at 1024 N. Atlantic Ave. and remained on life support as late as Monday.
Police arrested James “Jimmy” Nicolas Costa, 27, of Orlando about an hour afterward. Costa attempted to evaid liability by removing some of his clothes, abandoning a .380 semiautomatic pistol outside the hotel by the beach approach, and hiding in the beach dunes about a block away.
Costa has a lengthy criminal record and the News-Journal reports that he came to Daytona to sell drugs to spring breakers.
One witness, Steve McKinnon, 22, of Ocala, said that Costa and Drosky were arguing when Costa pulled a gun on Drosky and shot him in the face. When Drosky fell to the floor, Costa shot him twice more.
My firm handled a case similar to this several years ago where a young man was shot and killed during spring break in a Burger King parking lot.
Florida law requires businesses to maintian reasonably safe premises. That includes providing adequate security and safety when unsafe conditions are foreseeable.
In our past case, violence had erupted at the Burger King previously on several occasions and management expected an increase in violence because of spring break. In that case, we were able to acheive a successful outcome for the family of the deceased man.
Depending on the specific events, the hotel may be liable in this case. This is certainly not to say that every business owner should be liable for the death of a customer. Businesses and landowners are only liable for such occurrences if the business is at fault.
For example, since businesses are required by law to maintain safe premises, if the hotel in this case knew that an armed drug dealer was one of their guests, then most reasonable people would agree that the hotel should have provided more security.
In cases where businesses have repeated rapes or violent attacks occurring on their property, then they have a duty to the public to provide security to protect their customers. Not only is it required by law, it’s just good business practices and plain common decency.
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