Wife of armored truck employee killed during robbery files lawsuit
New Orleans LA June 1 2018 The wife of an armored truck employee who was shot and killed while servicing an ATM outside a Mid-City bank last year is suing the armored truck company and the bank, claiming her husband’s death was the “result of the joint negligence” by both parties.
Erica McBride, the wife of 33-year-old James McBride, is seeking damages for the pain, suffering and mental anguish her husband suffered prior to his death, and for medical, funeral and burial expenses she incurred as a result of his death.
Metairie attorney Patrick Follette filed the wrongful death lawsuit Wednesday (May 30) against Loomis Armored US LLC and Campus Federal Credit Union in Orleans Parish Civil District Court on behalf of McBride and her husband’s estate.
Ron Moreau, the chief development officer for Campus Federal Credit Union, called the shooting a “tragic, random act of hate.”
“There’s not a day that goes by I don’t keep the McBride family in in my thoughts and prayers,” he said.
When asked to describe the late Jimmy McBride, his sister, Jillian McBride, also describes him as ‘a big teddy bear.’
Moreau did not respond to specific allegations in the lawsuit, as Campus Federal does not comment on pending litigation.
Loomis did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Erica McBride alleged in the lawsuit Loomis did not properly train its guards and other employees, including her husband. And, she said in the lawsuit, the company failed to make sure the banks its employees visited had guards on site when Loomis employees were servicing ATMs and delivering or retrieving cash.
Campus Federal Credit Union, the bank at 2220 Tulane Ave. where James McBride was shot, didn’t have sufficient security procedures in place to discourage or deter violent crimes, Erica McBride claimed in her lawsuit. She also alleged the credit union did not have a security guard on the premises when Loomis and its employees serviced ATMs and delivered or retrieved money from the bank.
“Campus Federal’s actions, inactions and omissions occurred in such a manner as to constitute gross negligence,” McBride said in her lawsuit.
McBride said “Loomis had several similar occurrences resulting in fatal injuries to its guards” before her husband was killed. Those occurrences “served as actual notice of the likelihood of fatal injuries to its guards under similar circumstances,” she said in the lawsuit.
On Dec. 18, 2013, in a crime similar to the one that led to McBride’s death, Loomis armored-truck guard Hector Trochez was killed during a robbery outside a Chase bank on Carrollton Avenue.
Six people were indicted last year on federal charges connected to his killing.
James McBride was servicing an ATM around 4:30 p.m. on May 31, 2017, when two robbers opened fire on him and other Loomis employees, according to police.
Deltoine Scott and Jerome Kieffer were indicted last July, and are awaiting trial on federal charges of attempted bank robbery resulting in death, using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence that resulted in death, and making false statements to a federal agent.
McBride’s family said he had been living and working in New Orleans for about a month when he was killed. They described him as a “protector,” said he loved his dogs and had a big sense of humor.
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