savvy_consumer
Junior Member
What is the name of your state? South Carolina
Hello all - I hope someone can help me out with my question.
A person was mugged and seriously injured by three young theives. The story behind the mugging is as follows:
He was walking downtown late at night and realized that he was being watched and followed by about 3 people, males of about 20-25 years of age. He was alone, scared and in a part of the city that he was not familiar with.
He noticed that a store on the street had a sign saying "This premises is under video surveillance" and saw a camera was installed on the side of the building near a shipping entrance. He went to this location and began to use his cellphone to call the police (he was worried for his safety and figured that the video camera might deter the thieves or at least help identify the assailants should the attack him).
Unfortunately, before the call went through he was mugged and left badly injured and was unable to identify any of his attckers. Later, while he was still in hospital, he found out from the police that the camera was only a dummy camera. It was not functional at all but was simply a "theft deterrent", therefore it was of no help in the investigation.
The store owner seemed very co-operative and said that he purchased this dummy camera on the internet, and it came with the "video surveillance" sign and the device is not illegal when installed on private property.
Question 1: Are people allowed to use these dummy "theft deterrents"? (Including fake warning signs?)
Question 2: Who is liable (if anyone)? Is it the store owner who installed this device or the company who manufactured and sold the dummy camera and false sign?
Question 3: The person was completely misled by this "theft detterent" and it can be argued that the mugging happened partly becuase of this (had he not seen the sign, he may have done something else and escaped). Do we have any case at all against anybody?
Thank you in advance for any input!
Hello all - I hope someone can help me out with my question.
A person was mugged and seriously injured by three young theives. The story behind the mugging is as follows:
He was walking downtown late at night and realized that he was being watched and followed by about 3 people, males of about 20-25 years of age. He was alone, scared and in a part of the city that he was not familiar with.
He noticed that a store on the street had a sign saying "This premises is under video surveillance" and saw a camera was installed on the side of the building near a shipping entrance. He went to this location and began to use his cellphone to call the police (he was worried for his safety and figured that the video camera might deter the thieves or at least help identify the assailants should the attack him).
Unfortunately, before the call went through he was mugged and left badly injured and was unable to identify any of his attckers. Later, while he was still in hospital, he found out from the police that the camera was only a dummy camera. It was not functional at all but was simply a "theft deterrent", therefore it was of no help in the investigation.
The store owner seemed very co-operative and said that he purchased this dummy camera on the internet, and it came with the "video surveillance" sign and the device is not illegal when installed on private property.
Question 1: Are people allowed to use these dummy "theft deterrents"? (Including fake warning signs?)
Question 2: Who is liable (if anyone)? Is it the store owner who installed this device or the company who manufactured and sold the dummy camera and false sign?
Question 3: The person was completely misled by this "theft detterent" and it can be argued that the mugging happened partly becuase of this (had he not seen the sign, he may have done something else and escaped). Do we have any case at all against anybody?
Thank you in advance for any input!
