Short Hills Mall Wants Part of Fatal Carjacking Lawsuit Dismissed

The owners of The Mall at Short Hills have filed a motion to dismiss part of a lawsuit filed earlier this year by the widow of a Hoboken man fatally shot during a carjacking in the shopping center's parking garage.

An attorney for the mall claims Jamie Schare Friedland's allegations do not show “intentional or conscious wrongdoing or the type of deliberate act or omission required in order to sustain a demand for punitive damages,” according to NJ.com.

However, Schare Friedland's attorney countered by saying the mall owners failed to take appropriate action despite knowing the history of carjackings in Essex County, the report said. The attorney also said the owners were aware ambulances can not access all areas of the parking garage and did not try to resolve the issue, according to the report.

Schare Friedland filed the lawsuit in March in State Superior Court in Newark for an unspecified amount of damages for the death of her husband, Dustin Friedland, a Toms River native who was gunned down when the couple returned to their Range Rover at about 9 p.m. on Dec. 15, 2013.

The lawsuit, filed by Nagel, Rice, LLP of Roseland, cites the high rate of carjackings in Essex County, including four incidents at the mall, and the shopping center's proximity to major highways as risks the mall ignored when it stopped hiring more security personnel to save money.

The lawsuit also names California-based Universal Protection Services LLC, which provides security services to the mall, and the Millburn First Aid Squad.

According to the lawsuit, the first aid squad "took an extended and excessive period of time" to reach Friedland after the first 911 call was made. The lawsuit claims the ambulance not being able to fit into the parking garage was one of the factors to the delay that should have been foreseen.

In response to the shooting, Sen. Richard Codey and Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean Jr. introduced legislation last week that would require facilities with parking garages that are unable to accommodate ambulances to have an on-site emergency vehicle that can access all levels of the structure.