Wayne and Cathy Makowski testified in their wrongful death suit against Brickman Management Co., the McDonald’s franchisee, and B & B Cash Grocery Stores, the owner of the U.S. 41 shopping center that is home to the restaurant. The lawsuit alleges the businesses failed to provide adequate security to keep their son Anthony, 21, safe in the early morning brawl at a McDonald’s in Land O’Lakes.
The security expert witness for the plaintiffs said last week that incidents like parking lot fights have a probability of escalating into something worse and the restaurant should have had something in place, such as a security guard, to deter them. An expert for the defense countered Monday that alcohol-fueled fights between strangers that result in a death are rare, thus impossible to foresee and prepare for. Gregg McCrary, a former FBI agent, said the shopping center was not an area known for violent crime – only for late-night nuisances – and that restaurant employees responded appropriately when the fight broke out.
Excerpted from TampaBay.com.