Restaurant Refused to Help After Shooting, Suit Says : Courts: Son of woman slain while waiting at fast-food outlet was turned away when he asked to call for assistance, attorney says. Family seeks $15 million.

An 11-year-old boy whose mother had just been shot to death in the drive-through lane at a Jack-in-the-Box restaurant was turned away by the restaurant’s employees when he asked them for help, according to a $15-million suit filed Wednesday in Compton Superior Court.

“The boy ran to the door of the restaurant, which was locked, and he said, ‘Please call the police, call an ambulance, a lady’s been shot,” David Wood, an attorney for the boy’s family, said Wednesday.

“An employee said, ‘The phone cannot be used for customers, you’ll have to use a pay phone.’ ”

The attorney said the boy went back to his mother, then returned to the door and asked again for help.

Wood said an employee told the boy, “We have work to do, we have to get out these orders. It’s not our problem.”

The gunshot slaying of 30-year-old Anita G. Robertson in front of her children during a robbery at the restaurant in South-Central Los Angeles sparked widespread outrage. Four days later, the Los Angeles City Council offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the gunman.

Police said several people, including gang members, offered information about the shooting. A day after the reward was offered, Shawn Paul Johnson, 24, surrendered to police and was arrested and booked on suspicion of robbery and murder.

“We believe he knew he was wanted,” LAPD Lt. Bruce Hagerty said at the time, adding that community pressure had led Johnson to surrender. “He felt it was best for him to turn himself in.”

The suit filed Wednesday seeks $10 million in general damages, $5 million in punitive damages and unspecified medical costs from Foodmaker Inc., which does business as Jack-in-the-Box restaurants. The suit accuses the corporation of, among other things, negligent security and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

“What they did was outrageous, unthinking and uncaring,” Wood said. “They knew there was a danger. They protected their cash register, they protected their employees, but they were indifferent to the fate of their customers.”

Company officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

According to police, Anita Robertson drove up to the fast-food outlet at 103rd Street and Central Avenue at about 11 p.m. on July 31. Her 1-year-old son, Buster, was on her lap and her 11-year-old son, Steve Jr., was in a back seat of the family van. Beside Anita Robertson sat a neighbor, Desiree Brown, whose three children were in the back of the van.

Investigators said that as the van waited in the drive-through line, Johnson approached and demanded Anita Robertson’s purse. The officers said that when she resisted, the gunman shot her in the chest and fled on foot with the purse.

Wood said that when Steve Robertson Jr. and Brown asked restaurant employees for assistance and were turned away, he returned to his mother, who had staggered out of the van and collapsed on the pavement beside the vehicle. Wood said Brown, who was terrified, started running down the street, looking for anyone who would help.

“She waved down a car, and the driver, a Good Samaritan, drove her to a fire station,” Wood said. “No one was there. They finally spotted a black-and-white (police car).”

The attorney said that as the police car sped to the restaurant, Steve Robertson Jr., realizing that his mother was dead, returned to the locked door of the restaurant.

“He said, ‘Please, my mom is dead. Can I call my aunt and uncle?’ That’s when they told him it wasn’t their problem,” Wood said. “Then a supervisor came over and told everyone to get back to work.”

Named as plaintiffs in the suit are Steve Robertson Jr., Buster Robertson and their father, Steve Robertson Sr.