Walmart Worker's Parking Lot Mugging Prompts Lawsuit

JOLIET, IL - One of Joliet's most prestigious law firms has filed a negligence lawsuit on behalf of Emma Torres, a long-time Walmart worker, who was attacked and savagely beaten by Joliet criminal Matthew Kucinic on Nov. 23, 2016 outside the West Jefferson Street business. Torres was injured after leaving the Joliet Walmart around 10:25 p.m. on Nov. 23, 2016.

The new lawsuit at the Will County Courthouse names as defendants: Walmart, Daniel Hacking, the Joliet store manager; the nearby Menards and Kucinic.

The plaintiff is represented by Rathbun, Cservenyak & Kozol. Her lawsuit notes that Torres was 67 years old at the time she was attacked. She had worked at the Walmart company for 31 years. The lawsuit notes that Walmart maintained the business and operated the parking lots at 2424 W. Jefferson St. and that Menards operated the business and corresponding parking lots at 2524 W. Jefferson St.

As for Kucinic, who is now 40, he lived in the 400 block of Tana Lane in Joliet.

On Nov. 23, 2016, "Torres was a Walmart employee who was off the clock and had just purchased various items from ... Walmart walked unaccompanied from Walmart to her vehicle that was parked in the adjoining parking lot," the lawsuit contends.

Then, she was attacked.

"As Torres was acting peaceably, and she began placing her purchased goods in ... her vehicle, she was attacked from behind and seriously injured by Kucinic who knocked her down, repeatedly slammed her head and face into pavement and dragged her along the ground in an effort to steal her purse," her lawsuit states.

According to the Joliet law firm for the plaintiff, Walmart had a policy, practice and procedure of having all its employees, both on and off the clock, personally escorted to their vehicles so that they were protected and less likely to be victims of opportunistic criminals.

That did not happen in this instance, the lawsuit states.

"As a result of his actions, Kucinic was charged with attempted robbery by the Will County State's Attorney's Office," the lawsuit notes.

On March 30, 2017, Kucinic appeared before Will County Judge Carla Alessio Policandriotes and he pleaded guilty. The judge sentenced him to a term of 260 days in the Will County Jail, and she imposed other conditions and restrictions on him, the lawsuit states.

The negligence lawsuit against Walmart indicates "Walmart breached its duties," such as having "provided employees including Torres with a false sense of security by having illusory security and not following its own policies and procedures that would have prevented this attack."

The negligence lawsuit against Walmart also states the company's West Jefferson Street store "failed to provide security guards to protect all of its employees, shoppers and business invites from known and predictable criminal activity."

2016 Mugshot of Matthew Kucinic via Will County Sheriff