Claxton

Curtis Claxton (Claxton), plaintiff and appellant, appeals a judgment of nonsuit in favor of defendants and respondents Atlantic Rich-field Company, Prestige Stations, Inc., and Thrifty Oil Company (collectively ARCO).

This is a tort action against the owners and operators of a gas station for failure to take reasonable steps to secure their premises against foreseeable criminal acts of third parties. Although there were previous robberies and assaults at the station, the trial court granted nonsuit on the ground the instant attack was racially motivated, there were no prior hate crimes on the premises, and in the absence of prior such incidents, there was no duty to prevent the type of attack which occurred here.

The grant of nonsuit was clearly erroneous. The test is prior similar incidents, not prior identical incidents. It is immaterial whether prior violent criminal incidents at the site were motivated by racial animus or were simply garden-variety antisocial behavior. Claxton presented substantial evidence of prior similar incidents and other indicia of a reasonably foreseeable risk of violent criminal assaults at the station. Therefore, the judgment is…