MANHATTAN — The husband of the Upper West Side philanthropist who was left in a coma after she was hit by a shopping cart last year at the East River Plaza has sued the mall for not providing adequate security, according to court documents.
Michael Hedges says that the East Harlem mall failed "to provide the requisite security for person lawfully on the premises," according to the suit, filed on Feb. 21 in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Hedges' wife Marion had been buying Halloween candy for poor children with her 14-year-old son, Dayton, on Oct. 30 when two 12-year-old boys tossed a Target shopping cart from the fourth floor of the parking garage on East 117th Street near the Costco entrance, hitting her in the head.
The incident left the Prudential Douglas Elliman broker, who was involved in the Junior League and Stanley M. Isaacs Neighborhood Center, with "permanent and lasting" injuries including "severe head trauma," the court papers, first reported by the New York Post, said.
The suit accuses the mall of failing to supervise the shopping carts, including ensuring that "all shopping carts were timely and properly collected from areas where they were abandoned" and creating an "improper and unsafe design" of the walkways.
The mall also allegedly failed "to properly respond to prior reports and complaints that individuals were throwing items off the elevated walkways," the suit says.
A Costco employee said at the time that a complaint had been made about the boys who hit hedges with the car tossing a Slurpees onto customers prior to the incident.
Both boys pleaded guilty in the case.
"Our prayers continue to be with [Marion Hedges] for a complete recovery," said East River Plaza spokesman Gary Lewi.
"We would be compelled to decline on the matter since it is now in litigation."
