Recipients’ Names
Introduction:
An incident occurred in which a young man with blue hair assaulted an elderly man, striking him in the head. After the assault, the young man jumped into the older man’s automobile. A mall security guard, John Killian witnessed and responded quickly to the incident by removing the assailant from the vehicle and restraining him. Holly McElroy, a witness to the incident, gave an account that agrees with John Killian’s as to the above facts. Holly McElroy provided further detail in her account and said John Killian intentionally struck the assailant repeatedly in addition to removing him from the vehicle. Danita Mendoza, Security Guard Manager did not witness the incident but spoke with police and John Killian afterwards. She stated that John Killian told her the assailant attempted to reach for something in his pocket that could have been a knife or a gun. However, the police checked the assailant’s pockets and only found a cell phone and some change. Danita Mendoza sent John Killian home without pay pending a decision regarding the situation.
Discussion:
I reviewed the information provided which included accounts from three individuals; the mall security guard, John Killian; a witness, Holly McElroy; and the Security Guard Manager, Danita Mendoza. Danita Mendoza referred to police findings and Holly McElroy referred to a mom with kids. However, no statements or reports from these individuals were included in my incident information
John Killian’s account was brief; it differed from Holly McElroy’s in two regards. The first is a minor detail. John Killian describes the assailant as having a blue “Mohawk” and Holly McElroy describes the assailant as having “fruity spiked blue hair.” Both descriptions are similar enough to dismiss any small differences. The larger problem is the degree of violence used by the mall security guard.
In her account of the incident, Holly McElroy uses details, colors and descriptive terms that paint a graphic word picture of the incident. She refers to the assailant as a punk and John Killian as a rent-a-cop. She starts her account by describing an old guy, moving slowly, a young punk with fruity spiked blue hair who runs up, pops him in the head, then jumps into the car and drives off. She says all she can see at that point is blue hair in a blue Buick trying to close the door. Then said a mall rent-a-cop tore off over there and pulled the blue haired guy out of the car. This all supports John Killian’s less colorful statement of the facts.
The Security Guard Manager, Danita Mendoza did not witness the incident. She provided information regarding John Killian’s past employment history. She gave information received from the police and John Killian regarding the incident. Then she documented her response as Security Guard Manager. She relates that John Killian has been employed in his position for six years without incident. She says John told her he saw the blue haired kid go for a gun or knife or something in his pocket. Danita Mendoza relates further that the police did not find a weapon, only “a cell phone and some change.” She acted by sending John Killian home without pay pending a decision on how to handle the situation.
Conclusions/Recommendations
This witness account of John Killian’s actions raise the concern that the mall may have some liability resulting from its employee’s actions. Mitigating factors are that these actions took place after an assault on the elderly man and in the course of preventing an automobile theft. Danita Mendoza, the Security Guard Manager did not become involved until after the incident took place. However, since she sent John Killian home without out pay until a decision can be made regarding the situation, her actions suggest she shares these concerns. Furthermore, she inquired into the possibility that the assailant was, or could have been, carrying a weapon at the time of the assault, which suggests she was looking for additional mitigating, factors.
I recommend immediate further investigation to determine what injuries the elderly man suffered from the assailant, and what, if any, injuries the assailant suffered resulting from John Killian’s actions. We also need to establish the location of the assault and attempted automobile theft to determine if the incident took place on mall property. We need a statement from the elderly assault victim and any other potential witnesses such as the mother and children who also witnessed the event. Further, ongoing case management with the police will determine what, if any, criminal charges are pressed against the assailant and if they get any convictions.
