CVN screenshot of plaintiff attorney William Brenske delivering his opening statement
Las Vegas, NV - A Nevada state court jury heard opening statements Thursday in a lawsuit filed by a woman who was shot in the face by a robber at an ATM who accuses Bank of America of failing to implement adequate safety measures at the site, and the full trial is being webcast gavel-to-gavel by Courtroom View Network.
Plaintiff Wanlin Yang and her fiancé Da Lu were vacationing in Las Vegas in January 2019, when they parked near a walk-up ATM at a Chinatown-area BoA location so Lu could make a cash deposit. After completing the deposit a ski-mask wearing robber approached Lu brandishing a pistol.
Yang then drove the couple’s rented SUV toward the robber in an attempt to get between him and the cowering Lu. While fleeing the robber fired three shots through the driver’s side window, one of which struck Yang in the face and caused extensive injuries. Yang and Lu accuse BoA of knowing the ATM was recently targeted twice by the same robber and not doing anything to protect customers, however the bank maintains Yang’s actions escalated the situation, and that they complied with industry-standard practices.
Plaintiff attorney William Brenske of Brenske Andreevski & Krametbauer told jurors during his opening statement that no guard was on duty at the ATM despite two armed robberies, one involving a pistol whipping, carried out by the same individual just within the previous 28 days.
He accused BoA of failing to review available surveillance video of those previous incidents despite maintaining a sophisticated monitoring network that he claims they were more willing to use to track down vandals doing damage to the machines themselves. Brenske argued their alleged failure to review video of the previous incidents and then post a guard at the location makes BoA liable for Yang’s injuries.
“Same robber, same ATM, nothing done by BoA to warn anybody that this guy is a predator, a serial robber at this ATM,” he said.
Yang survived the shooting, but Brenske told jurors she required six reconstructive surgeries and will need four more with past and future medical bills approaching $1.2 million, and that she endured significant pain from the jaw wires, plates, screws and multiple infections that set in during the course of her recovery.
Defense attorney David Feldman of The Feldman Firm argued during his opening statement that warnings posted on the ATM and in mailings to Lu stressed the importance of being aware of one’s surroundings, that the shooting resulted from Yang’s decision to “escalate” the confrontation, and that BoA did not “cause or create the situation.”
Feldman told jurors Lu was complying with the robber when Yang decided to drive the SUV in their direction, and he contrasted the incident with the two previous robberies by the same individual where nobody was shot.
CVN screenshot of defense attorney David Feldman delivering his opening statement
He differentiated the incident from those two prior robberies by arguing that Yang’s “…“intentionally, willingly speeding in an SUV toward a robber whom she saw and knew to be armed” ultimately caused her injuries.
Feldman told jurors he would present evidence showing BoA fully complied with all industry-standard safety practices at the ATM, including how it dealt with the previous robberies, and said witnesses would testify even having a guard on-site doesn’t necessarily prevent all crime at an outdoor ATM location.
The trial is taking place before Judge Timothy Williams, and CVN’s gavel-to-gavel coverage will continue for the duration of the proceedings.
The case is captioned Wanlin Yang v. Bank of America, case number A-19-795302-C in Nevada’s Eighth Judicial Circuit Court in Clark County.
E-mail David Siegel at dsiegel@cvn.com