After an assault in Hollywood
After an attack at an apartment, hotel, store, or parking area, you may be dealing with injuries and a place that no longer feels safe. Miller & Jacobs reviews whether a failure to provide reasonable security helped allow the harm.
Tell us where it happened and what you know. We can examine who controlled the property, warnings before the incident, and records that need to be saved. You can call from Hollywood or after returning home from a visit.
Call 911 if danger is ongoing. Free, confidential consultation. No attorney fee unless compensation is recovered for you.
The entrance, hallway, lot, or walkway can change who had control.
Complaints and repair requests may show what was known.
Police files and private security footage come from different sources.
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A civil review alongside the criminal case
A property claim asks whether a foreseeable risk and a failure to take reasonable security measures contributed to your injury. We look at your reason for being there, who had control, earlier warnings, and what the security failure changed.
The offender remains responsible for the crime. Florida's third-party criminal acts statute requires consideration of everyone who contributed in covered property cases.
This is part of our Hollywood premises liability practice. Our Hollywood personal injury overview explains the wider injury claims we handle.
What police investigate
The police file may identify the offender and the event. It may not contain the property's repair history or security contracts.
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The incident or case number
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Witness names and responding officers
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Available arrest and court records
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Footage, photographs, and physical evidence
What the property review adds
We examine notice, security decisions, property control, and whether a failure helped allow the injury.
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Locks, lighting, entry systems, and cameras
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Guard duties and the actual response
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Earlier complaints, incidents, and repairs
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Leases, management agreements, and coverage
Care first, then preserve what you can
Keep original messages, photos, and receipts. Note the time and exact spot once you are safe. Do not return to danger or delay treatment to collect evidence.
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Write down the address and the door, room, hallway, or parking row. Save your booking or purchase record.
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Save the report number, witness contacts, medical records, and messages to or from management.
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Private video and access logs may need prompt preservation requests. A police report request does not save the hotel's own footage.
What the property file may hold
Separate records, separate keepers
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The relevant cameras, time window, timestamps, retention rules, and any outages.
Video
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Room-key use, fob entries, visitor logs, and door alerts where available.
Access
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What was reported, when a repair was requested, and when it was done.
Lighting
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Incident reports, complaints, employee messages, and relevant police calls.
Notice
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Who was scheduled, assigned posts, patrol records, and dispatch messages.
Staffing
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Who could fix the gate, change staffing, restrict access, or approve the budget.
Control
You can start with the facts you have
Share the place, date, injuries, and any contact from the property or insurer. We can discuss the records worth pursuing and the next legal decision.
The location shapes the investigation
Security needs depend on the property's use, access, prior warnings, and operations. Pinpoint the site instead of assuming the nearest business controlled it.
We review entry systems, repair requests, resident warnings, and who managed common areas.
Keep your booking details and room number. Keys, hallway access, guest reports, and staffing may matter.
The parking operator may differ from the business. We trace the exact row, entry, lighting, and camera coverage.
The review may include crowd control, prior disturbances, staffing, and how an ejection or threat was handled.
Closing procedures, parking arrangements, sightlines, and reports of earlier threats can help explain the risk.
Identify whether you were inside, in a private lot, or on a nearby public walkway. Control and claim procedures may differ.
After an attack, ordinary routines can feel different
Returning to your car, unlocking the door, or walking through a hallway can feel different after an attack. The effect on feeling safe deserves to be heard alongside the physical injuries.
You can tell us what has changed without having every detail of the attack sorted out. We can help clarify the legal questions while you focus on your care.
Before the incident
Earlier reports and messages may show notice. The type, timing, and connection to the risk need review.
At the property
A failed gate or dark area matters only in context. We examine how it affected entry, visibility, or response.
During operations
Schedules and instructions can be compared with patrol, screening, and response records.
Behind the decisions
Contracts and budgets can help identify who could repair, hire, warn, or change access.
Look at the risk before the attack
The investigation looks at what was known or reasonably should have been known before the event. Prior incidents, warnings, the property's use, and surrounding conditions may matter.
There is no simple crime-count test that decides every case. A broken camera does not automatically prove negligence; the evidence must connect the duty, failure, and harm.
A specific rule for qualifying residential property
Florida's multifamily security statute covers qualifying residential property with at least five units on one parcel. Substantial implementation of its measures can create a presumption against liability for certain third-party crimes.
The owner or principal operator must prove substantial implementation. The statute does not create a separate private cause of action.
A camera or a claimed inspection does not answer every question. The definition, required measures, proof of compliance, and facts of the attack need review together.
Measures and records to examine
For qualifying properties
The statute calls for retrievable recordings kept at least 30 days.
It sets a minimum lighting level and dusk-to-dawn coverage.
Walkways, laundry areas, common areas, and porches are addressed.
It specifies at least a one-inch deadbolt for each dwelling-unit door.
The listed locks include windows, sliding doors, and noncommunity doors.
Key or fob pool access and certain unit-door viewers are included.
A qualified crime-prevention assessment and substantial compliance matter.
Training must address the statute's security measures and be kept current.
Responsibility follows the evidence
A landlord, tenant, manager, parking operator, or security contractor may hold different duties and records. We trace their roles before deciding which parties warrant a claim.
Leases, retained control, repair authority, complaints, and major security decisions.
Daily access, staff instructions, events, closing, and responses to reported threats.
Common-area control, resident reports, work orders, and oversight of hired vendors.
Contract scope, assigned duties, patrol records, access systems, and what was actually done.
The harm extends beyond the scene
Potential damages depend on the injury, its effects, the proof, fault, and available coverage. No fixed formula or promised value fits every attack.
Medical care
Emergency care, surgery, medication, rehabilitation, and supported future treatment.
Emotional harm
Documented trauma care, sleep changes, anxiety, and effects discussed with treating providers.
Income
Wage records, time away, restrictions, and evidence of reduced future earning ability.
Daily routines
Scarring, movement limits, household tasks, and activities the injury has changed.
Family losses
The estate and eligible survivors may have claims under Florida law. Our Hollywood wrongful death guide explains who may act for the family.
Legal time limits and evidence retention differ
Many Florida negligence actions have a two-year filing period under section 95.11. The claim, date, defendant, and any exception can change the deadline.
Video may be overwritten much sooner. Waiting for an arrest or the end of a criminal case can leave both evidence and filing questions unresolved.
Covered third-party-crime property cases consider fault of all people who contributed to the injury, including the offender.
Different legal claims or public defendants can require a different deadline analysis.
Under section 768.81, fault can reduce damages. A claimant over 50 percent at fault is barred in negligence actions covered by that rule.
An arrest or conviction is not required to start examining the property's duty, records, and security decisions.
A public agency can bring additional notice and procedure requirements. Identify the exact location and incident date.
Serving Hollywood from Pompano Beach
Miller & Jacobs is headquartered in Pompano Beach, not Hollywood. You can begin by phone or online. Our Pompano Beach negligent security practice provides another resource on property investigations.
Hollywood Police routes offense and incident reports through the City's Public Records Center. Its records page directs 911 audio requests to Broward Sheriff's Office Communications. Private hotel or parking footage needs a separate request.
1600 S. Federal Highway, Suite 1101
Pompano Beach, FL 33062
Meet the attorneys
Mark Miller and Rick Jacobs are former prosecutors with more than 230 combined jury trials reported by the firm. Their backgrounds and the firm's work are explained on the attorney pages.
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Former prosecutor and former insurance-defense attorney. Read his background and trial experience.
Mark Miller's bio →
Partner
Former Miami-Dade prosecutor. Read his background and trial experience.
Rick Jacobs's bio →Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each claim depends on its own facts, evidence, law, injuries, and available coverage.
Questions after an attack in Hollywood
These answers explain common starting points. They do not decide whether a particular property or company is legally responsible.
Yes. The criminal case and the civil property review ask different questions. We can begin with the incident location, injuries, available records, and who controlled security. The absence of an arrest does not prove or disprove property negligence.
Yes. Keep your booking details, receipts, report number, photos, and contact information. You can discuss an incident in Hollywood after returning home. We will need the exact address, date, and spot where the attack occurred to review the next step.
No. We review who controlled the gate, earlier complaints, repair history, and how the failure related to the attack. Qualifying multifamily properties also raise a statutory presumption question. A single defect or security measure does not settle the entire claim.
There may be. Room-key records, guest reports, witness information, staff messages, and nearby cameras can matter. Save the hotel's response and who gave it. Whether footage existed, was retained, or should have been preserved depends on the facts and applicable duties.
Identify the exact spot and how you reached it. The business, landlord, or parking operator may control different areas. Receipts, signs, maps, agreements, and witnesses can help. Being near a business does not automatically make it responsible for an attack.
Hollywood Police directs offense and incident report requests to the City's online Public Records Center. For 911 audio, its records page directs callers to Broward Sheriff's Office Communications. Access can be limited by applicable law. These requests do not preserve private security-camera footage.
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