Convenience, Negligence, and Vehicle Accidents Combine in Convenience Store Incidents

When it comes to security risks, incidents can have various outcomes—including lawsuits and new regulations or legislation. Here are three examples that still reverberate through the convenience store and quick-service dining markets.

Storefront crashes. In what is currently the most expensive settlement agreement involving a pretrial recovery for someone injured in Illinois, convenience store 7-Eleven agreed to pay $91 million to a Chicago-area man.

In September 2017, the man was struck by a vehicle outside of a 7-Eleven store in Bensenville, Illinois. The plaintiff was pinned by a vehicle against the side of the 7-Eleven storefront when a driver accidentally drove the car onto the sidewalk. The plaintiff ultimately had to have both of his legs amputated above the knee.

While working the case, attorneys discovered that more than 6,200 crashes had taken place at 7-Eleven stores in the United States during a 14-year period.

Prior to the settlement, a court determined that the plaintiff could pursue punitive damages because, between 2003 and 2017, 7-Eleven had not taken any steps to prevent vehicles from crashing into stores. Prior to the settlement, the court determined that the company had a duty to install bollards in front of its stores in an effort to improve the safety of any person on store property.

Abduction. On an early morning in November 2022, Brian VanDusen parked outside of a convenience store and headed into the store, not wanting to wake his three children who were asleep in his van. Unfortunately, when VanDusen walked back out of local Circle K store a few minutes later, the van and his children were gone.

According to VanDusen, another adult passenger had been waiting for VanDusen outside of the van when a man, later identified as Abraham Jimenez-Zenquiz, jumped into the driver’s seat and drove away.

Police were called to the scene and began searching for Jimenez-Zenquiz. They soon located him and were able to reunite VanDusen with his children.

Although Jimenez-Zenquiz pled guilty to charges of abduction and motor vehicle theft, VanDusen decided to file a lawsuit against Circle K in late 2024.

VanDusen is asking for $25,000 in damages and interest from the store, alleging that it was negligent in preventing their customers from coming to harm from an individual who had allegedly repeatedly harassed, intimidated, and threatened patrons of the store. VanDusen also claims that he had reported Jimenez-Zenquiz to the store prior to the theft of his van.

According to news reports, so far there has not been a court date set for the case.

Alcohol sales. In June 2021, prominent South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh murdered his wife Margaret and son Paul, part of saga of fraud, theft, murder-for-hire, and other crimes memorialized in several television shows and podcasts.

While it’s almost a tangential, minor part of the Murdaugh family story, Paul’s involvement in a boating accident in 2019 that resulted in the death of Mallory Beach became a big deal to the convenience store chain Parker’s Kitchens.

Surveillance footage from the store shows Paul, who was underage, purchasing alcohol by allegedly using his brother’s ID. Paul is believed to have been intoxicated while driving his father’s boat when it crashed into a bridge piling, killing Beach and injuring others who were onboard. Paul was facing charges in the incident when he was murdered by his father.

The family of Mallory Beach and others injured in the incident sued the estates of Margaret and Paul Murdaugh. They also named Parker’s Kitchens and Parker’s Kitchen CEO Greg Parker in the suit, claiming the store’s clerk was insufficiently trained, failed to realize that the ID was not Paul’s, and should have refused to sell the alcohol to him.

Under the suit, if both parties were found guilty, the company would have been financially responsible for judgments against the Murdaugh estates if the latter was unable to pay. When Parker’s tried and failed to separate the defendants in the case, the organization decided to settle for $15 million. (Renee S. Beach et al v. Gregory M. Parker, Parker’s Corporation, Inc., et al, Court of Common Pleas 14th Judicial Circuit, No. 2021-cp-25-00392).

“The unfairness of that caused Parker’s insurance carriers to resolve these suits to avoid paying the likely award intended to punish Alex Murdaugh,” a Parker’s attorney said in a statement.

Lawyers for the Beach family said, “The Beach family believes this settlement will serve as a warning to all the Parker’s of the world, who might make an illegal sale of alcohol to a minor, that they will be held to account for their wrongful conduct if they do.”

Outdoor dining. Restaurants and quick service eateries share a common problem with convenience stores—their storefronts and outdoor seating areas in front of the store can be at risk of a vehicle collision. Many of these establishments lack bollards or other forms of safety barriers that can stop a moving vehicle from crashing into a storefront, customers, or pedestrians.

In California, Governor Gavin Newsom enacted AB1989 in August 2022. The law created incentives for businesses with outdoor dining areas to install safety barriers in certain areas. Businesses that install these barriers will receive a discount on their commercial property insurance.

Workplace violence. In 2024, another California law came into effect: Senate Bill 553 requires almost every employer in California to create, adopt, and implement a written workplace violence prevention strategy.

While there are a few organizations that are exempt from the law, those exemptions do not apply to convenience stores. Like other affected businesses, convenience store owners and operators with sites in California must have established a written workplace violence prevention plan and employee training plan by 1 July 2024. Organizations must also keep a log of workplace violence incidents, which for convenience stores may include thefts, assaults, or vehicle collisions.

Sara Mosqueda is associate editor for Security Management. Connect with her on LinkedIn or send her an email at [email protected].