On October 3, 2009, a 66-year-old pizza deliveryman working for Domino's Pizza was beaten and robbed. The incident occurred at approximately 10:00 p.m. when the deliveryman was beaten with an aluminum baseball bat and robbed in the 1200 block of Bessie St. in Forth Worth. The man was taken to an area hospital for treatment of injuries to his head and face.
While a robbery such as this is obviously criminal in nature, many people do not realize that the victim in this incident would also have a cause of action against the defendants in a civil suit. An assault is known as an intentional tort in the realm of personal injury law. According to state law, the defendants would ultimately be responsible for compensating the plaintiff for any damages that he has incurred as a result of the incident including lost wages, medical expenses, pain and suffering, mental anguish, etc.
The problem with such a case is that the defendants may not ever be apprehended and even if they are, there is a good chance that they will not have assets of significant enough value for the plaintiff to sue them for. However, the victim really has nothing to lose by contacting an experienced personal injury attorney. A good attorney will evaluate the situation and determine if there is a case there or not. It may turn out that there are other possible defendants that may be less obvious to the victim. In any event, it is a good idea to leave no stone unturned and to try to see if there is a case there. Since most personal injury lawyers work on a contingency fee basis, the victim will not have to pay the attorneys anything unless they are able to make a successful recovery for him.
It's a long shot for sure, but with the contingency fee structure, the attorney assumes the risk which is quite beneficial for the victim.
