Schwartz v. American Home Assur. Co., 75--701

• Citation: 334 So.2d 268
• Decision Date: 11 May 1976
• Docket Number: No. 75--701,75--701
• Parties: Solomon SCHWARTZ, as Personal Representative of Sara Schwartz, and Solomon Schwartz, Individually, Appellant, v. AMERICAN HOME ASSURANCE COMPANY, a Foreign Corporation, and Vincent Grande, Appellees.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

Page 268

334 So.2d 268

Solomon SCHWARTZ, as Personal Representative of Sara Schwartz, and Solomon Schwartz, Individually, Appellant, v. AMERICAN HOME ASSURANCE COMPANY, a Foreign Corporation, and Vincent Grande, Appellees.

No. 75--701.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

May 11, 1976.

Rehearing Denied July 6, 1976.

Jay Dermer and Stuart R. Silver, Miami Beach, for appellant.

Corlett, Merritt, Killian & Sikes and Donald W. Hardeman, Jr., Miami, for appellees.

Before HAVERFIELD and NATHAN, JJ., and CHARLES CARROLL (Ret.), Associate Judge.

NATHAN, Judge.

This is an appeal by the plaintiff, Solomon Schwartz, individually, and as personal representative of Sara Schwartz, from a summary final judgment in favor of the defendants in an action for damages resulting from an accident which occurred on October 7, 1974, in which Solomon Schwartz was injured, and his wife, Sara Schwartz, was killed.

Defendant, Vincent Grande, was the owner of the automobile which struck the plaintiff and his wife, who were pedestrians crossing the street at an intersection with a green traffic signal. American Home Assurance Company was Grande's liability insurer and a third defendant, one Jimmie Johnson, was the operator of Grande's vehicle at the time of the accident. It appears that on the evening of the accident, Grande parked his car in front of a bar and left it unattended with the doors unlocked, a package containing beer and cheese on the back seat and an ignition key in the glove box. While Grande was in the bar, Johnson entered the car, found and utilized the key and proceeded to drive for a few blocks when he struck the Schwartzes, injuring the husband and killing the wife.

The complaint alleged negligence on the part of Johnson and liability on the part of Grande and his insurer, American Home Assurance Company, on the basis of negligence as well as vicarious liability as owner of the vehicle. The answer of defendants Grande and American Home Assurance Company denied liability on the theory of intervening cause. The trial court granted the motion of Grande and American Home Assurance Company for summary final judgment, and this appeal ensued. ¹

The plaintiff contends that Grande, the owner of the car, is liable for damage resulting from negligent operation of the car by a third person stranger where the car was parked unattended with the doors unlocked, cheese and beer on the back seat and an ignition key in the glove box. We do not agree. The principle applied in Florida is that as a general rule, an intervening criminal act breaks the chain of causation. Therefore, the original negligence of Grande was not the proximate cause of the damages resulting from the intervening criminal act. Lingefelt v. Hanner, Fla.App.1960, 125 So.2d 325; Bryant v. Atlantic Car Rental, Inc., Fla.App.1961, 127 So.2d 910. Even though a person may be guilty of negligent acts or omissions, there can be no recovery for damages which were not a reasonably foreseeable consequence of the negligence. To be foreseeable, the negligence must be such that a person, by prudent human foresight, can...