Thomas Scolaro, partner with Leesfield Scolaro. Courtesy photo.

Miami Leesfield Scolaro attorneys Thomas Scolaro and Justin Shapiro have teamed with Aaron Davis of Davis Goldman to file a $25 million lawsuit against a South Florida apartment complex they say created a false sense of security among residents.

Defendant Hibiscus Pointe Associates Ltd.'s lease agreements claimed its Gladeview apartment complex was "crime-free" because of strict tenant-screening requirements, according to the plaintiff's team. But the attorneys say a four-time convicted felon was living at Gladeview.

The lawsuit revolves around plaintiff Yajaira Wood, whose 42-year-old husband Aldo Marquez Sr. was killed, allegedly by a tenant, who has not been charged is under investigation by police, according to the plaintiff's team.

The lawsuit says Marquez and his brother had driven to their mother's house at Hibiscus Pointe Apartments, which has more than 200 low-income housing units, at around 10:30 p.m. Nov. 27, 2019. Marquez had planned to spend Thanksgiving there with his wife and children.

When the family pulled up and parked, the complaint claims their headlights illuminated an area where the tenant was allegedly using drugs in his car. The lawsuit claims that man then approached and banged on Marquez's car window while shouting about the headlights, so Marquez got out and told him to "Get out of here!"

A struggle ensued, allegedly ending with the man stabbing Marquez in the chest.

The tenant has prior convictions for weapons, drug trafficking, robbery and violent crime, according to the complaint, which says this should have disqualified him from living at the complex.

The lawsuit also points the finger at Hibiscus Pointe and its security service Supra Security Inc. in Doral, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment. They have yet to retain counsel, according to online case files.

'You can't just say it'

Scolaro said he's never seen a lease agreement like Hibiscus Pointe's.

"If you're going to market your property as something, you must take steps to ensure that you're meeting that obligation, and I don't think that they did anything," he said. "In this society, when you make promises that you're going to take efforts to make sure that it's a safe environment, you actually, strange as it sounds, have to do something about it. You can't just say it."

Aaron Davis of Davis Goldman in Miami. Courtesy photo.

Davis, a former corporate defense attorney, said the allegations are "arguably as bad as it gets."

"Having come from a firm that defends large corporations and negligent security cases, and now focusing on the plaintiff's side, I would say that this is one of the most egregious failures on the part of a property operator, in my experience," Davis said.

It's always a challenge to hold a private company liable for crimes committed by a third party under Florida law, which sets a high bar for negligence, but Scolaro says he's confident.

The plaintiffs lawyers say their investigation has unearthed complaints that the alleged assailant was regularly seen doing drugs on the premises, and yet he was never reprimanded nor evicted.

"When those criminal acts are foreseeable, when they've had red flags, when they've violated their own policies, when they've violated their standards, they can't be surprised when the inevitable happens," Scolaro said.

The defendants have yet to formally respond to the complaint. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Beatrice Butchko will preside over the litigation.

Read the complaint:

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