The Cochran Firm Legal Blog

Four people robbed and beat a 15-year-old girl last month in a bus tunnel in Seattle, Washington while three unarmed security guards did nothing to stop it. The whole incident was caught on surveillance video, and shows the victim on the ground as she is repeatedly kicked in the head.

It's maddening enough that the three security guards did nothing, but even more so that they were actually following orders. As the girl sought out protection from the guards during the attack, she figured they'd help her. According to the guards' orders, their job is simply to "observe and report" to police. While police did show up, they came after the robbery and attack.

Fight Began as Menacing Elsewhere

The entire incident actually began in a nearby Macy's. Police saw the beginning of events unfold there, and kicked out the alleged robbers and the victim. The victim reports she even asked the officers to escort her to the bus tunnel, but the officers refused. When she went to the tunnel and sought out the guards, she was followed by the group, jumped, beaten and robbed. The victim says she lost consciousness during the attack, but refused going to a doctor for treatment.

One of the four people arrested, an 18-year-old man, claims the situation began when the victim pepper sprayed another person in his group earlier in the evening.

A Seattle police spokesman states that if the officers realized what was going to happen, they would have put the girl in a cab and paid for her to safely get home. A King County Sheriff's deputy said the guards not only followed their training, but were right in doing so. He states, "It was a violent fight, and they were outnumbered by this pack of people 3 to 1."

Four attackers versus three guards with police backup counts as "outnumbered" in Seattle?

Contracted Security Guards

The security guards are employees of Olympic Security Services, Inc., which has a contract with Metro Transit and the King County Sheriff's Office. Their duties are to help customers, report suspicious objects, equipment problems, and disruptive behavior. After this, the company is revising its contract to add when it is appropriate for their employees to intervene. Other options may be to hire armed guards.

The main attacker, a juvenile girl, faces over two years in juvenile detention. An 18-year-old faced 36 to 48 months in prison, and two 20-year-olds face 31 to 41 months in prison.

It is assumed by the public that security guards are there to do more than watch and report when things go wrong. In this case, there may have been a want on the security guards' part to intervene, but they were not allowed. Still, if these people can't save a 15-year-old girl from being severely beaten, what good are they?

If you or a loved one has been assaulted in a public place that should be safe, please contact the premises liability attorneys at the Cochran Firm. We serve clients nationwide.