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Lawsuit filed for assault by HOB security guard
December 4, 2009 – The woman who was allegedly assaulted by a House of Blues security officer in October has filed a lawsuit against the officer and his former employer, seeking at least $100,000. It happened on October 12 at about 11:30 p.m. following a concert at Marina City’s House of Blues by the rock band Hanson. In her complaint filed on Thursday in Circuit Court, Brittney Hernandez, age 23, of Chicago, says she was assaulted by former HOB employee Darrell Gibson as she waited with other fans near Kinzie Street for the band’s tour bus to leave the Marina City complex. She says Gibson attacked her “for taking a public photograph.” The attack was unprovoked, she claims, and Gibson also committed theft by taking possession of her property, presumably her camera.
Seven counts against Gibson include negligence, assault, battery, theft, and infliction of emotional distress. There are ten counts against House of Blues, including assault, battery, theft, negligent hiring and training, and statutory ordinances violations such as battery, theft, and failing to report the activity to police. According to a Chicago police spokesperson, a verbal altercation between Gibson and Hernandez over a camera “escalated to a physical altercation,” resulting in minor injuries to the woman’s face.
Gibson pleaded guilty on November 5 to misdemeanor battery and was sentenced to a year of court supervision.
When he was arrested on October 12, Gibson, age 31, of Sauk Village south of Chicago, told police he was a security officer at House of Blues. Managers at House of Blues would neither confirm nor deny that Gibson was an employee but on November 12, an HOB employee told Marina City Online that Gibson no longer worked there.
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Serving the Loop and Near North neighborhoods of downtown Chicago
