Family of Man Killed at ATM Is Suing Bank

The wife and children of a man gunned down at a Bank of America ATM machine in Lancaster are suing the financial institution for $60 million, alleging the machine was installed in a location that invited crime.

Attorney R. Rex Parris filed the suit in Lancaster Superior Court on Tuesday on behalf of Verena Herzog, her son, Brenden, 17, and daughter, Heidi, 14.

Hans Christian Herzog, 46, was killed March 5 near the ATM, located at the rear of the bank in the 700 block of West Lancaster Boulevard.

Two men, Christopher A. Mann and Wesley Harper, were later arrested in the slaying. Their trials are scheduled to begin in the coming weeks.

Parris said Verena Herzog was reluctant to file the civil suit against Bank of America, but wanted to ensure her children’s future would be secure following the loss of their father. At the time of the shooting, Hans Herzog was the family’s sole income provider. Verena Herzog is a homemaker.

“She did not want to sue,” Parris said of Verena Herzog. “She’s not the type of person. They’re very religious people. She just wanted to take care of her children.”

The Herzogs were not the first to sue a bank after a family member was killed at an ATM machine. Parris said the suits are quite common.

Last summer, the parents of a pregnant women slain at an automated teller machine in Sherman Oaks filed suit for unspecified damages. In April, the family of an Encino man killed while using an ATM settled a wrongful death suit against Wells Fargo Bank for an undisclosed sum.

Parris said Bank of America knew the ATM at its Lancaster Boulevard branch was in a poor location, at the back of the bank where it cannot be seen from any side streets.

“They know what ATM machines are dangerous,” he said. “They know what precautions should be taken.”

Since Herzog was killed, Parris said, Bank of America has hired a security guard to keep watch over the ATM machines at its Lancaster Boulevard branch.

Bank of America officials declined comment.