Family of electrocuted thief gets $75,000
February 25, 2003
BY DAN ROZEK STAFF REPORTER
The family of a convicted burglar who was electrocuted in 1997 when he tried to break in to a bar in Aurora after-hours and triggered a homemade booby trap has been awarded a $75,000 jury verdict to be paid by the owners of the bar and the property.
Larry Harris was wrong to try to break in to George O\'s Place, but the bar and property owners share responsibility for his death, the Kane County jury reasoned in ordering the wrongful-death payout after a two-week trial.
Frustrated after three burglaries at his tavern in a month, Jessie Ingram installed the homemade security system in late July 1997. He jury-rigged the inside of the bar\'s windows so anyone breaking in would get a strong shock, then posted several warning signs outside, including one outside the window Harris broke in through.
Drunk and high on cocaine, Harris, 37, either didn\'t see or ignored the warnings. He forced open a rear window and crawled in, triggering the homemade, electrified booby trap just five days after it was installed.
In a verdict returned Friday, jurors placed 50 percent of the blame for the death on Harris, but assigned the bar\'s owners 40 percent and placed 10 percent on the property\'s owner.
No criminal charges were filed.
Jurors weren\'t allowed to be told that Harris was drunk and on cocaine, nor that he had served time in prison for two burglary convictions.
The verdict sends a message that property owners can\'t use lethal security systems to defend their homes and businesses, said John Winters, the Chicago lawyer who represented Harris\' mother and brother in the civil case.
"You can\'t set these type of traps because property isn\'t worth a human life," Winters said, adding that the booby traps might just as easily have been tripped by firefighters or police officers answering an emergency call at the bar.
Ingram was a defendant in the lawsuit but died last year before the case went to trial against the remaining defendants, including his wife, Barbara Ingram.
Barbara Ingram\'s lawyer said the award left the Aurora woman "devastated."
"She\'s the victim, and she gets victimized again," said attorney Fred Morelli, who also represented the property owner, Alma Moody of Virginia.
Morelli said the jury ended up giving Harris\' family "more than he would have earned in his entire life" and promised to appeal the verdict.
Winters contends there was little evidence linking Harris to the earlier break-ins and said it wasn\'t clear why Harris was entering the bar through the window around 2 a.m.
"We\'re never going to know Larry\'s intent, but we know Jessie\'s intent," Winters said, noting that, after installing and testing the security system, Ingram then boosted its power to 220 volts from 110 volts. "There was a clear intent to cause harm."
Harris\' brother, William, couldn\'t be reached Monday for comment. In an earlier interview, he said, "I know my brother wasn\'t an angel, but I don\'t feel like the way he died was justified."
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Topic: Jury awards $75k to man electrocuted while breaking into bar (Read 744 times)