Nicole M. v. Sears, Roebuck & Co.

Plaintiff Nicole M. appeals after entry of a summary judgment in favor of defendant Sears, Roebuck & Co. (Sears). Plaintiff asserts that Sears could have prevented an attempted sexual assault on her in its parking lot by providing better lighting and landscaping. For the reasons stated below, we will affirm the judgment.

Facts

On Sunday, March 3, 1996, around 9:00 p.m., as plaintiff was walking home, she took a shortcut across the parking lot of the Sears store in the San *1242 Antonio Shopping Center in Mountain View. She saw a nicely dressed and clean-cut man, Pedro Dias Santa Cruz, standing near one entrance to the parking lot. 1 The area was well lit except for two lights that were out near a dense row of bushes. Plaintiff walked past the man. He ran up behind her, grabbed her, and tried to drag her into the nearby bushes. Plaintiff was able to fight him off before they got to the bushes. After the police arrived that night, plaintiff was able to point out to them where the man was trying to hide.

The Sears manager was aware that a homeless man had been camping in those bushes since July 1995. The homeless man was not the one who attacked plaintiff. The Sears…