Miami Personal Injury Accident Lawyer knows that after a criminal attack on commercial property in Florida, the criminal case almost never produces money for the person who was hurt — it punishes the attacker, it does not pay medical bills. Compensation usually comes from a civil premises claim: an inadequate security lawsuit against the property’s owner or operator, whose liability insurance is typically the only real source of payment.
Why this question comes up
According to local news reports, an arrest was recently made in Miami-Dade in connection with an attack in a commercial parking lot that seriously injured a person. The criminal matter is pending, an arrest is an accusation, and nothing has been proven.
Nothing that follows is a statement about that case, about anyone involved in it, or about any business’s security. It is a general explanation of Florida law.
A criminal conviction is not compensation
The prosecution and your bills run on separate tracks. A prosecutor’s job is to prove a crime and obtain a sentence, not to resolve your surgery, your missed paychecks or your future care.
Courts can order restitution, and that sounds like the answer. In practice, restitution orders against an individual are frequently uncollectible: someone facing a violent felony charge often has no meaningful assets, and an order on paper is not a payment.
Insurance rarely fills the gap. Liability policies generally exclude intentional acts. So even where an attacker carries a homeowner’s or renter’s policy, a deliberate assault typically falls outside coverage.
The result catches people off guard: the criminal case can end in a conviction with the injured person still holding every bill.
Where the coverage is: the inadequate security lawsuit
Recovery generally comes from a different direction: a civil claim against the business or property owner where the attack happened. Commercial owners and operators carry liability insurance, and that coverage is typically what makes any recovery possible.
This is the negligent security claim, a form of premises liability resting on two ideas:
- Duty. An owner or operator must use reasonable care to keep the property reasonably safe for people lawfully there.
- Foreseeability. The claim usually turns on whether this kind of criminal act was reasonably foreseeable — prior similar crimes at or near the property, complaints that went unanswered, or known dangerous conditions.
These claims arise in the settings you would expect: parking lots at retailers like Walmart, Publix, Target and CVS, and also apartment complexes, hotels, bars and parking garages. A Miami premises liability lawyer for Parking Lot Accidents looks at the property’s own history first, because foreseeability is the gate the case must pass.
The hard part: Fla. Stat. § 768.0701
Florida has a statute written specifically for this kind of case, and it does not favor injured people:
“Premises liability for criminal acts of third parties.—Notwithstanding s. 768.81(4), in an action for damages against the owner, lessor, operator, or manager of commercial or real property brought by a person lawfully on the property who was injured by the criminal act of a third party, the trier of fact must consider the fault of all persons who contributed to the injury.”
In plain terms: in a claim like this, the jury must weigh the fault of everyone who contributed to the injury — and that includes the person who committed the crime. Ordinarily § 768.81(4) keeps intentional conduct out of that comparison. Section 768.0701 overrides that rule for these claims.
The practical effect is a genuine obstacle: fault the jury assigns to the attacker is fault it does not assign to the property owner, and that can reduce what the owner’s insurer pays. It cannot be argued out of existence.
It does raise the importance of proving the security failure itself: what the owner knew about the risk, and what it did or did not do about it.
Fla. Stat. § 768.81 adds a second limit: a claimant found more than 50 percent at fault recovers nothing.
Evidence disappears long before the deadline does
Two clocks run after an attack, at very different speeds.
The fast clock is evidence. Parking-lot and store-exterior surveillance typically runs on an automatic overwrite cycle, so the footage can be gone in weeks. Along with it:
- the property’s own internal incident report
- police call history for that address — the raw material of any foreseeability argument
- lighting, security-staffing and patrol records
- witness identities, which get harder to trace over time
A preservation letter puts the property owner on notice that this material matters. That creates notice; it does not by itself guarantee anything is preserved.
The slow clock is the filing deadline. Under Fla. Stat. § 95.11(5)(a), a negligence action generally must be filed within two years for causes accruing on or after March 24, 2023. Two years sounds like plenty of time. The surveillance video does not wait two years.
Getting a Florida claim reviewed
If you or a family member was injured by the criminal act of a third party on commercial property, having the facts reviewed costs nothing. The Perazzo Law Firm handles premises liability and inadequate security matters in Florida, and there is no attorney’s fee unless we recover. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Call 888-PERAZZO ((888) 737-2996) or request a free consultation. Our page on handling an inadequate security claim explains how these cases are built.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I still bring a claim if the attacker was arrested?
Yes. A criminal prosecution and a civil premises claim are separate proceedings. The state prosecutes to punish; you bring the civil claim against the property owner to seek compensation. One does not replace the other.
What if the attacker has no money?
That is the common situation, and it is why these cases focus on the property. An individual attacker often has no meaningful assets, and liability insurance generally excludes intentional acts. The property owner’s liability coverage is usually the only realistic source of recovery.
How long do I have to file in Florida?
Under Fla. Stat. § 95.11(5)(a), negligence actions accruing on or after March 24, 2023 generally must be filed within two years. Deadlines vary with the facts, and evidence such as surveillance footage usually disappears far sooner, so waiting is costly even inside the deadline.
Does the property owner get to blame the attacker?
In this type of case, yes. Fla. Stat. § 768.0701 directs the jury to consider the fault of all persons who contributed to the injury, including the person who committed the crime. Fault assigned to the attacker is fault not assigned to the owner.
Personal Injury Attorney in Miami advertising. The Perazzo Law Firm, North Miami Beach, Florida. This article is general information about Florida law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome, and no outcome is guaranteed or predicted here.