Wednesday, March 15, 2006

"DIDN'T THEY KNOW WHERE THEY WERE? THEY WERE IN THE JUNGLE, BABY", OR "YOU KNOW I DON'T LIKE BEING STUCK IN A CROWD": In an opinion filed last week, a Philadelphia judge affirmed a $140,000 verdict awarded to a woman who claimed a December 2002 ankle injury outside the then-First Union Center was caused by arena management's failure to foresee and prevent the riotous behavior sure to sweep the crowd once the cancellation of a Guns N' Roses concert was announced. PW req'd, sorry, but five paragraphs is fair use, right?
Heenan asserted that defendants Comcast Spectator and Spectrum Arena Limited Partnership should have recognized the crowd would become unruly when the rock band's Philadelphia show was canceled, as roughly a month earlier, Guns N' Roses fans in Vancouver, British Columbia, had rioted when the band called off its show in that city. Heenan had also filed suit against the band and various tour and concert promotion companies, but those defendants were either dismissed or granted nonsuits. . . .

Heenan testified that the audience became unruly and aggressive after the show was canceled, according to the opinion. She said she saw food and drinks being thrown from the upper levels and that concertgoers were beginning to run toward the exits. According to the opinion, the only security Heenan said she saw at the time consisted of two yellow-jacketed employees standing near the exits. . . .

[Comcast Spectator vice president for security Michael] Hasson also testified that arena management was aware of a possible show cancellation as early as 7:45 p.m. on the night in question. In the next hour or so, he ordered removed from the arena various objects that might be thrown by angry members of the crowd, which had been able to purchase beer during the preceding hours. Hasson testified he also had additional security personnel brought in.

Hasson, who testified he knew about the Vancouver incident in November 2002, acknowledged on the stand that he anticipated the crowd would become disruptive after the cancellation was announced, Maier wrote.

Terence Gibbs, a security expert for Heenan, testified at trial that the security staff in place that night had not been properly trained, and that teams of security personnel should have been in position to respond when the cancellation announcement was made.

Hmmm . . . if you tell drunk G n'R fans that Axl's not showing up (because he was still in NYC watching a basketball game on tv), you should expect they might get angry. Even violent. Go figure.

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