No one saw it coming (Pope v. Route 66 Clothing Inc.

• Author: Mitchell, Teresa
• Position: 1997 - 2d - Ont. Gen. Div.

A customer sued a store when he was punched in the face by a fleeing bandit. He claimed that the store was negligent in its apprehension of the thief. The Court wasn't buying it. The judge said

* it was not foreseeable that the fleeing thief would gratuitously punch the customer in the nose

* the customer was not in the thief's path as he fled

* there is no duty under the Occupier's Liability Act for an occupier (the store-owner) to restrain thieves for the...