Police charge man Monday who they say threatened multiple people with a knife at a Hialeah gas station.
Joel Medina, 54, was charged Monday with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The incident happened around 10:30 a.m. at a Wawa gas station, 2901 W 16th Ave in Hialeah. Witnesses reported a shirtless man threatening people with a knife and allegedly threatening to stab a man who was pumping gas. Police told reporters with the Miami Herald that Medina crossed the street and threatened several bystanders with the weapon, causing them to scatter. When Medina returned to the gas station, the man he had threatened displayed a gun, causing Medina to run away.
Medina was found near Okeechobee Road.
Leesfield & Partners
Leesfield & Partners has represented numerous victims, survivors, and families of individuals who have been injured or killed due to a property owner’s failure to protect invitees from foreseeable criminal actions. With 48 years of experience in personal injury law, the attorneys at Leesfield & Partners have built a strong reputation in the area of negligent security.
Negligent security refers to a property owner’s or management company’s failure to implement adequate security measures to protect visitors from foreseeable criminal activity. Effective protocols to safeguard invitees from crimes such as assault or robbery may include security personnel, surveillance cameras, alarm systems and adequate lighting. If an invitee is injured as a result of criminal activity that could have been prevented through any of these measures, the property owner or management company may be held liable for damages. State law mandates that property owners take reasonable steps to ensure the safety of guests and tenants, particularly in high-risk areas.
In decades of representing injured clients in negligent security cases, Leesfield & Partners has seen criminal activity take place in various locations such as at hotels, motels, gas stations, shopping malls, office buildings and school campuses. One young student whose family was represented by Leesfield & Partners was killed on the university’s campus.
Over the last several years, Leesfield & Partners has returned over $100 million for clients who were injured in preventable criminal incidents, where property owners failed to implement essential security measures.
Premises Liability Cases
In Key West, where Leesfield & Partners has occupied an award-winning office on historic Whitehead Street since the 1980s, the firm secured an over $40 million award for a client severely injured in a hotel parking lot. In that case, the hotel did not have locks and/or security who could have prevented a crazed man with a hammer from entering the premises and eventually attacking our client. This man was allowed to roam around the parking lot for 20 minutes before encountering our client.
The law firm entered a confidential settlement with the hotel the night before the verdict was handed down against the other defendant, making it the largest verdict of its kind in Monroe County history at the time.
In another case, this time involving a death at an apartment complex, Leesfield & Partners secured a $15 million settlement.
A couple who were staying at a Florida hotel were savagely attacked by a man who was allowed to enter the property and travel up to their room without being questioned or stopped by employees and security. The man brutally attacked the husband before turning his ire on the wife who he beat, mutilated, raped and sexually assaulted. Employees of the hotel and security watched part of the attack unfold and did nothing to intervene.
This hotel had a violent history that was well-documented by police, who visited the property numerous times over for calls about assaults, robberies, gun violence and more. Despite recommendations from both the police and their private contractors to employ multiple armed guards, hotel officials chose to disregard the advice in an effort to save money.
A $16 million award was secured by Justin B. Shapiro for the couple in that case.
A $3.25 million, confidential award was returned to a client against a building owner in a negligent security case.
Leesfield & Partners handled a negligent security case against a bank that left our client injured, resulting in a $3 million recovery.
In a cruise ship case, a crewmember used his employee keycard to enter the room of a Canadian traveler. Once inside, he raped the woman.
Leesfield & Partners secured a multi-million-dollar result for the woman in that case.
For a man who was injured in a shooting at a Florida grocery store, Leesfield & Partners secured an over $1.5 million award for the man’s injuries.
A hotel housekeeper who was raped while on the job at a Key West hotel was awarded $1 million for her injuries as a result of the harrowing ordeal.
If you or a loved one was injured in a negligent security incident, don’t wait. Call a Leesfield & Partners attorney today to see if you might be eligible for compensation.