LANCASTER : Family Sues Bank Over Slaying at Teller Machine
The wife and children of a man gunned down at a Bank of America teller machine in Lancaster are suing the financial institution for $60 million, alleging the machine was installed in a location that invited crime.
The suit was filed in Lancaster Superior Court on behalf of Verena Herzog, her son, Brenden, 17, and her daughter, Heidi, 14.
Hans Christian Herzog, 46, was killed March 5. Two men, Christopher A. Mann and Wesley Harper, were arrested in the slaying and are awating trial.
The Herzogs are not the first to sue a bank after the killing of a family member at an ATM. Last summer, the parents of a pregnant women slain at an ATM in Sherman Oaks filed suit sued 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.
The latest suit alleges that the Lancaster ATM was in a poor location, at the back of the bank where it cannot be seen from the street. Since Herzog’s death, the bank has hired a security guard to watch the machines.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
