DALY CITY, Calif. - A woman who was attacked at the Westlake Shopping Center last October has filed a lawsuit alleging the property’s owner, among others, failed to maintain adequate safety measures.
Nicole Malouf was attacked outside Nation’s Giant Hamburgers, where she had stopped to pick up dinner. She was allegedly punched and kicked in the face and body, and escaped her attacker by crawling into the eatery. Her attacker, Marc Bauda, was later arrested and arraigned on several felony charges, including attempted carjacking and assault.
Allegations
Dig deeper:
The lawsuit, filed by Morgan & Morgan, alleges that Kimco Realty Corporation, which owns the Westlake Shopping Center, Nation’s Food Service and Mana Armed Guards, a security company hired to protect the premises, failed to implement and maintain adequate safety measures to protect people entering the property.
"Our client is a talented young woman who had just finished a shift pursuing her dream. She was picking up her dinner when she was the victim of a violent attack that we allege should never have happened," attorneys John Morgan and Kellian Summers said in a statement. "The defendants are supposed to keep the community safe. Our client suffered debilitating injuries that changed her face forever, impaired her vision, and shattered her sense of security. We will fight to hold these defendants accountable for their alleged negligence and secure justice for our client, so that this may never happen to someone else ever again."
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Culinary school grad attacked outside Nation's in Daly City, suspect in custody
Nicole Malouf, a 31-year-old San Francisco woman and recent culinary school graduate, was violently attacked outside a Daly City restaurant. Police have arrested a suspect in connection with the unprovoked attack.
Malouf is seeking compensation for lost wages, medical expenses, mental and emotional distress, as well as her legal fees.
The attack
What we know:
The lawsuit states that Malouf suffered a traumatic brain injury and an orbital fracture that left her with permanent facial disfigurement and vision that has continued to degrade since the attack.
"On her way out (of the restaurant), a guy just starts punching her in the face, and constantly yelling ‘keys,’ and punching her and punching her," Tracie Tang, Malouf’s aunt told KTVU following the attack. "And she falls to the ground, she gets back up, and he keeps punching her, until she’s able to grab the handle of the restaurant (door)."
Attacker Marc Bauda was arrested two days after the attack, when Daly City Police officers responded to an assault near Edgeworth Avenue and 87th Street, not far from where Malouf was attacked.
Investigators recognized similarities between the attacks and used surveillance footage and recovered evidence to identify Bauda as the suspect.
The Source: Information for this story was gathered from a press release from Morgan & Morgan, the lawsuit filed by that company on behalf of Nicole Malouf, as well as previous KTVU reporting.