Mother of slain Jersey City police officer settles suit against Walgreens, security firm
JERSEY CITY NJ Nov 9 2017 — A settlement has been reached in the lawsuit filed by the mother of slain Jersey City Police Officer Melvin Vincent Santiago which alleged Walgreens and others did not provide adequate security on the night her son was killed.
The wrongful death suit filed by Catherine McBride, named Walgreen Eastern Co., the security guard working at the Kennedy Boulevard store at the time of the July 13, 2014 shooting, and the security company that employed him.
McBride’s attorney, John E. Molinari, confirmed this morning that a confidential settlement has been reached with Walgreens and the security company. The lawyer said some details of the settlement must still be worked out.
Molinari said he could not comment on the amount of the settlement. Once the remaining issues are worked out, Hudson County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey R. Jablonski can make the terms of the agreement public or allow them to remain confidential.
On the morning Santiago was shot, Lawrence Campbell assaulted a security guard at the Walgreens and took his gun. Store employees hid in a back room and one of them called 911.
In the parking lot, Campbell told someone that something bad was going to happen and that he would read his name in the news the next day, officials said.
Santiago and his partner arrived at 4:11 a.m. and Campbell opened fire as Santiago exited the police cruiser, striking him in the head. Simultaneously, additional officers arrived and shot Campbell dead.
The suit claimed 24-hour stores are prime targets for robberies, especially on weekends, and Santiago died on a Sunday. It stated that Walgreens nevertheless stopped hiring off-duty officers for security at the store years ago in order to increase profits.
The lawsuit stated that the security company — S.E.B. Security in Egg Harbor — and the guard on duty were responsible for providing for Santiago’s safety but the claims the guard, Pierre Monsanto, was not properly trained.
It also alleged the defendants failed to warn Santiago that he was responding to a situation in which a violent man was armed with a loaded gun.
The lawsuit noted medical and funeral expenses incurred, as well as McBride’s physiological distress and the loss of her sons’ support, guidance, advice and assistance for the rest of her life.
The lawsuit also names Santiago’s estate as a plaintiff. Molinari said McBride had no comment on the settlement. Jablonski’s office said today that the lawsuit is listed as closed but there is a hearing pending.
Multiple previous attempts to reach Monsanto and S.E.B have been unsuccessful. The law firm representing Walgreens did not return a phone call today.
NJ.com
