Harbour Centre Security Guards Accused Of Brutality

First Posted: 11/15/11 07:21 PM ET Updated: 11/16/11 02:36 PM ET


Five men now allege they were abducted and beaten by security guards in separate incidents at a downtown Vancouver mall.


Two men have joined three others who have already filed lawsuits against Fusion Security Inc. and the Harbour Centre Mall.


At a news conference Tuesday, Justin Peterson said he was coming home from a construction job in 2009 when he stopped in at the mall and was allegedly set upon by security guards without provocation.


"I was forcibly dragged into a stairwell, handcuffed to the railing and abused at that point,” said Peterson.


Peterson said he was kicked so hard he couldn't walk for a week and said he has medical documents detailing his visit to a hospital emergency room.


"It's pretty terrifying having all your safety ripped away,” he said.


Peterson said he remained silent about the attack until he learned he wasn't alone.


In June, the Pivot Legal Society filed the first three lawsuits against the mall and the security company in which the men alleged they sustained serious injuries when they were stopped by security, dragged into hidden areas of the mall and beaten.


Another man also has since come forward, but did not attend Tuesday’s news conference.


Police called


Police were called to four of the five incidents detailed in the lawsuits, but no charges were laid and none of the allegations have been proved in court.


"Basically, what we've seen in all these individuals' cases for all five individuals is physical injuries from a beating, and in our opinion there needs to be consequences for that," said Pivot lawyer Douglas King.


A spokesperson for Fusion Security Inc. said that because the matter is before the courts, the company is limited in what it can say. But in its statement of defence to the lawsuit, the company said the complainants had been belligerent and sustained their injuries when they attacked security staff.


King said he would argue that the injuries sustained by the men are not satisfactorily explained by the company’s statement.


The men alleging brutality said they are not seeking money in their lawsuit.


"Justice. Only justice, nothing else," said alleged victim Luis Larrain.


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Five men now allege they were abducted and beaten by security guards in separate incidents at a downtown Vancouver mall. Two men have joined three others who have already file...
Five men now allege they were abducted and beaten by security guards in separate incidents at a downtown Vancouver mall. Two men have joined three others who have already file...
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SkyhawkIIAimer
"How many more like him are out there?"
04:25 PM on 11/16/2011
6/5 and pick 'em that these mall cops drive around at night with police scanners.

"Hobby cops" we used to call them.
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01:07 PM on 11/16/2011
Mall cops in Vancouver were super abusive to anyone who didn't look like a banker in the 1990's when I was there. I'm not surprised by this at all.
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gx5000
Life's too short, be happy..
12:06 PM on 11/16/2011
Sounds like we're getting US Style Mall Cops in Canada now. Great.
cdnman
Still a free spirit...
10:50 AM on 11/16/2011
test
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Jay from Ottawa
sovereignty sale, 1.3T OBO
09:47 AM on 11/16/2011
Only goons on power trips remain employed with rent-a-wannabe-cop services. Companies who hire them are just as bad.
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Charles Allen
11:37 AM on 11/16/2011
Sounds like somebody got caught shoplifting.
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Jay from Ottawa
sovereignty sale, 1.3T OBO
12:28 PM on 11/16/2011
Incorrect. My oppinions are based on two things.

1- I had a friend work for a security company for a year and a half.
2- When I was younger I wanted to apply to work for a security company. Before I did I scoured message boards to see what past employees of the company thought of their employment there. Suffice it to say, nobody had anything good to say.
12:41 PM on 11/16/2011
If security catches a shoplifter, they press charges. They don't take suspects into stairwells for clandestine beatings.

A comment like yours could only come from a pure sheep mentality. If an authority figure told you to pull the trigger on an innocent citizen, you would do it just because the authorities told you to. And that makes YOU more dangerous than a dirty cop!
ChrisH75
Je ne réponds pas aux commentaires de Canada Libr
09:08 AM on 11/16/2011
Sad to think that those that didn't meet the minimum requirements to become a real cop wind up as Mall Security.
12:41 AM on 11/16/2011
These security guards must have thought they could imitate the RCMP.
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gx5000
Life's too short, be happy..
12:05 PM on 11/16/2011
Nice try....
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Murman
I read the news today, oh boy.
09:26 PM on 11/15/2011
Sometimes uniforms and even just the perception of power makes some people go a little funny.
11:27 AM on 11/16/2011
Sometimes the weird guys are just seeking power.
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SkyhawkIIAimer
"How many more like him are out there?"
04:25 PM on 11/16/2011
Richard Jewell.
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Blodo
Time to build a better world
09:25 PM on 11/15/2011
Put a goon into a uniform and give him handcuffs...he's still a goon, only now he's a goon who can handcuff people.
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Samurai Cowboy
Howard 500 Fan
09:11 PM on 11/15/2011
Mall rent a cops beat people up because they have a miniscule manhhod.
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Jake Thomas
elastic
09:11 PM on 11/15/2011
I would feel safer in the mall if they handed chimpanzees billy clubs and walkie talkies.
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Kristopher Leang
training to take down the elite
09:04 PM on 11/15/2011
woww and if these goons act like this imagine the police, who have more power, less accountability and more dangerous weapons.
08:24 PM on 11/15/2011
Let's call it what it is: rent-a-goons going on a rampage.
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o3mta3o
08:11 PM on 11/15/2011
"But in its statement of defence to the lawsuit, the company said the complainants had been belligerent and sustained their injuries when they attacked security staff."
Does this area just have a high conglomeration of security beaters or something? I doubt it.
If it happened once? Sure. Twice? Maybe. 5 times? not a chance.
They'll have their chance to defend themselves in court but I'm pretty sure I see where the fault lies.
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spinnerator
07:35 AM on 11/16/2011
You obviously haven't visited some of the malls in the GTA. I can think of one, that I stopped visiting years ago that reported this type of stuff on a weekly basis.
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o3mta3o
10:27 AM on 11/16/2011
reported what? that the security is abused or that the security abuses, because if it's the later then that's exactly my point.
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shediac
12:08 PM on 11/16/2011
Want to bet that the dozens of security cameras didn't catch a thing...