How to Take Action After a Gas Station Crime

When you purchase gas or stop by a station to pick up a few snacks, you expect the owner or operator of the gas station to take any necessary steps to protect you against becoming a victim of a crime. Because of the high price of gas, owners and operators must remain prepared to protect customers against gas station crimes such as skimming credit cards or siphoning gas from vehicles that are undergoing maintenance and repairs. Gas station crimes also include more violent incidents than theft, including assaults, robberies, and even homicides.

Like other retail businesses such as restaurants, grocery stores, and convenience stores, owners and operators assume a legal duty of care to protect customers against gas station crimes. This means owners and operators must install security cameras, provide sufficient lighting, and implement measures to prevent skimming, among other security steps that protect vendors and customers from falling victim to gas station crimes. If you have sustained injuries and/or financial losses caused by one or more gas station crimes, you should seek legal support by hiring a premises liability attorney.

For more than three decades the experienced attorneys at Morgan and Morgan have handled every type of premises liability case, including gas station crimes. Our team of personal injury lawyers has recovered more than $14 billion in monetary damages for clients that sustained injuries, as well as clients that fell victim to theft. As your legal counsel, the premises liability team at Morgan and Morgan conducts a thorough investigation to determine whether the gas station owner/operator committed one or more acts of security negligence.

Schedule a free case evaluation with an experienced premises liability attorney at Morgan and Morgan to determine whether you have enough evidence to file a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages.

What Is the Relationship Between Foreseeability and Gas Station Crimes?

Negligence comes in many forms when reviewing cases involving gas station crimes. One way to prove negligence is to demonstrate that the owner or operator of the gas station in question should have taken steps before the crime to prevent it from happening. Referred to as foreseeability, the ability to be several steps ahead of criminals represents an effective way to prevent gas station crimes. When a criminal detects a vulnerability in the security program, the criminal might feel encouraged to commit a crime.

Gas station owners should be aware if criminals have committed any crimes in the area, as well as the times during the day when the most crimes take place. Although credit card skimming can happen at any time during the day, more violent crimes tend to unfold at night. Foreseeability for gas station crimes also involves knowing when there is a weakness in the security apparatus, such as a broken security camera or one or more defective locks. Gas station owners and operators have to foresee the potential for customers to fall victim to skimming and other types of scams.

Working with one of the negligent security attorneys at Morgan and Morgan should determine whether the owner or operator of the gas station where you fell victim to a crime should have understood the potential for the crime to take place.

What Security Measures Should Gas Stations Adopt?

It is one thing for an owner or operator to foresee gas station crimes, but it is quite another thing for the owner or operator to take the right security steps to protect visitors on the property.

Conduct Credit Card Reader Checks

Completing frequent inspections of credit card readers represents a quick and cost-effective strategy to protect customers against credit card theft. Owners and operators should train attendants to check the credit card readers daily at the beginning and end of each shift. Monitoring credit card readers do not replace a secure lock system, but being vigilant further enhances customer safety. If an attendant sees strange activity at a pump, the attendant should immediately call 911 for assistance.

Locks Designed for the Gas Station’s Pumps

Virtually every case of gas pump skimming occurs on pumps that are secured by universal locks. All that a criminal needs to access the pumps is an easy-to-purchase universal key that costs next to nothing and is available at a vast majority of hardware stores. A gas station owner or operator should be able to locate a local locksmith that can install site-specific gas pump locks to make theft much more difficult for criminals.

Comprehensive Security Camera System

Installing security cameras throughout a property is one of the most, if not the most effective deterrent to prevent gas station crimes. Criminals operate on the path of least resistance, which means any obstacles to success such as a comprehensive security camera system should be avoided. Owners and operators also are responsible for maintaining a security camera system. If one or more cameras shut down and a criminal exploits the vulnerability of a defective camera security system, the owner or operator of the gas station has committed an act of negligent security.

Bright Lights

Gas station crimes are committed by criminals that often rely on the element of surprise to commit their illegal acts. This is especially true for robberies. One of the ways to establish the element of surprise is to move about in a dark environment. Poor lighting outside of a gas station allows a criminal to walk into a store without the attendant detecting the presence of the criminal in the parking lot. At Morgan and Morgan, our premises liability attorneys will hold the owner or operator of a gas station legally liable for a crime because the property had inadequate lighting.

What Does My Lawyer Need to Prove Negligence?

Proving negligence is the key to receiving compensation as a result of one of the many types of gas station crimes. The premises liability attorney from Morgan and Morgan who works with you must demonstrate the presence of four elements to prove negligent security.

Duty of Care

Your premises liability lawyer’s first element to prove involves showing a gas station owner or operator owed you a duty of care to protect you against criminal activities. Retail businesses such as gas stations assume legal liability for your protection against a wide variety of harmful incidents. The owner or operator of a gas station must take steps to protect customers from the minute they step or drive on the property until the moment when they leave the property.

Violating the Duty of Care Doctrine

The second element of proving negligence represents the act or acts of negligence that caused you to become a victim of a crime while at a gas station. For a credit card skimming incident, you do not have to be on the property at the time when the thief stole your sensitive financial information. Some examples of violating the duty of care doctrine for gas station crimes include failing to install site-specific gas pump locks and not hiring a team of security guards because the gas station sits in a high-crime area.

The Crime Caused You Harm

After your premises liability lawyer from Morgan and Morgan proves the second element of negligence, the next step is to connect the breach of the duty of care doctrine to the harm caused by the commission of a crime. In credit card theft cases, the harm caused is strictly financial. If you sustained injuries as a result of the commission of a violent crime, then the harm caused includes injuries and financial losses generated by medical bills, lost wages, and property damage. The attorney representing the gas station owner or operator will try to show you sustained injuries and/or suffered financial losses that another incident produced.

Suffered Financial Losses

A civil court judge will not award you monetary damages if you cannot prove one or more gas station crimes caused financial losses. Copies of bank and credit card statements should be enough persuasive physical evidence to prove the crimes caused you to lose money. If you sustained injuries from one of the many types of gas station crimes, you need to submit copies of medical bills and records to show the connection between the injuries and financial losses.

What Is the Deadline for Filing a Gas Station Crimes Lawsuit?

Each state has established a time limit for plaintiffs to file personal injury lawsuits. Referred to as the statute of limitations, the deadline for filing a personal injury lawsuit in most states is between two and four years. However, a few states have set the statute of limitations as high as six years and as low as one year. The clock starts ticking on the day when you fell victim to one of the gas station crimes.

The premises liability attorney you hire from Morgan and Morgan ensures you file your civil lawsuit before the expiration of the statute of limitations. Although even one year seems like more than enough time to file a convincing civil lawsuit, you should act with a sense of urgency and file your negligent security lawsuit as quickly as possible. You do not want to wait several years to recoup the financial losses caused by one of the most common types of gas station crimes. In addition, your legal counselor wants to interview witnesses as soon as possible after the commission of a crime to obtain the most accurate version of events.

Get Justice for Falling Victim to Gas Station Crimes

Victims of crimes often have difficulty taking action to address the harm done by the crimes. However, you must shake off any hesitation and immediately reach out to one of the premises liability lawyers at Morgan and Morgan. Every one of our highly skilled litigators allows you to check off the criteria you should look for in the best legal representation.

Our team of personal injury attorneys has compiled a record of success that is unmatched by other law firms. Since 1988, Morgan and Morgan has represented clients during personal injury cases such as gas station crimes. Our experience helps clients understand often complex legal terms, as well as devise the right strategies to win civil lawsuits.

You can expect the lawyer you work with from Morgan and Morgan to represent you in every step required to resolve your case. Your legal support comes from an attorney who specializes in litigating premises liability cases, as well as premises liability cases that involve gas station crimes. Our litigators respond promptly to emails, phone calls, and text messages to keep you updated on the progress of your case.

Spend a little time reading the positive reviews left by our clients on sites such as Yelp and Google. After you discover our positive reputation, schedule a free case evaluation to learn how Morgan and Morgan provides the legal support you deserve.