He died protecting women outside Tacoma lounge. His estate now claims he was failed
The estate of an off-duty security guard killed outside a Tacoma lounge has sued the business and others for allegedly failing to protect visitors, including Joseph Briggs, who had “heroically intervened in defense” of three women before he was shot last year.
Briggs, 39, was shot multiple times in the chest and found lying in the Night Owl Lounge’s parking lot on Sept. 10 when Tacoma police officers were dispatched there shortly after 2 a.m., according to charging papers.
Briggs, who provided security at the bar and club but was not working that night, had been assisting three women who were being assaulted by three men, charging papers said. He was fighting with the man who shot him, court records showed.
Two men have been charged in Briggs’ death and have pleaded not guilty in cases that were ongoing as of Tuesday, according to court records.
A wrongful death lawsuit filed by the personal representative of Briggs’ estate Aug. 7 alleges the lounge’s operators, property owners and hired security company did nothing to secure the property despite being aware of a “terrible history of crime and violence” at the business.
The suit, filed in Pierce County Superior Court, cited three dozen reported crimes on the premises in six years preceding the shooting, including incidents of domestic violence and assaults, one report of shots fired and another of a drive-by shooting.
Stephen Mickelsen, an attorney representing the plaintiff, told The News Tribune that Washington state law requires that properties are maintained in a reasonable and safe manner.
“We’re not asking for property owners to go above and beyond what they have to do under the law,” Mickelsen said.
Messages left with the five named defendants in the suit, seeking comment, were not returned.
The legal complaint claimed that the defendants were negligent and failed on several fronts: providing adequate security and surveillance; monitoring potentially harmful activity; removing dangerous or unauthorized people from the premises; and responding to the immediate threat posed by criminals in the business’ parking lot, among other things.
“Had Defendants exercised reasonable care in preventing or controlling the foreseeable criminal activity of third-parties at the subject premises, injury to Joseph likely would have been prevented,” the lawsuit said.
Briggs left behind two children.
The suit seeks unspecified damages to be proven at trial, legal fees and other relief deemed appropriate by the court.
