A wrongful death lawsuit filed Wednesday against Dallas’ NorthPark Center is seeking millions in damages and the mandatory closing of almost all of NorthPark’s parking lots for a full year.
According to a statement, the Lenahan Law Firm filed suit saying that the shopping center "knowlingly tolerated" and "failed to make reasonable attempts to abate" joyriding by drivers that resulted in the death of Yu Luo, and severely injured, Shiguo Wang, both of whom were visiting from China.
The law firm says NorthPark's parking lots and garage roof has been the home of "Fast & Furious"-style joyriding for years, pointing to photographs of tire marks on the roof going back to 2011.
In a statement to The Dallas Morning News, NorthPark declined to comment on joyriding in its parking garages.
"Following the incident, NorthPark immediately began its investigation alongside legal counsel and local authorities," the mall told the Morning News in a statement. "While NorthPark remains deeply saddened by this incident, NorthPark unequivocally denies all claims of wrongdoing asserted in the lawsuit. Beyond that, NorthPark cannot comment at this time on pending litigation."
Mark C. Lenahan, the two families’ lead attorney, is calling for a boycott of NorthPark Center as the holiday shopping season begins. Lenahan says "wealth is more important to [NorthPark] than keeping its customers safe."
