Robbery victim, 12, and mom sue BART over ‘lackadaisical’ probe

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A 12-year-old boy and his mother are suing BART, saying he was first victimized by a robber, who took his wallet at gunpoint on a station platform, then by police, who were “lackadaisical” in their investigation.

“Hopefully, we can make BART safer for its passengers, and make BART police more enthusiastic about doing their jobs,” said Paul Justi, an attorney for the mother and son.

The boy, who attends Oakland Military Institute, rode BART to El Cerrito Del Norte Station about 5:30 p.m. on April 1, got off the train and walked toward a stairway when the robber pushed a gun into his waist, directed him to a dark area of a staircase, and demanded his wallet, said Justi, who filed the suit this week in Contra Costa County Superior Court.

Terrified, the boy ran from the station when he saw no station agent and got on the closest bus before phoning his mother. She called BART police to report the crime, and mother and son met with police about two hours later to file a report.

Neither the mother nor the son is named in the suit to protect the boy’s identity.

BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said the transit agency took the case “very seriously.”

“We did not take it lackadaisically,” Trost said. “It’s a 12-year-old kid. That’s very serious.”

BART, the suit charges, should have known that the station had a high level of criminal activity and taken adequate security measures, including better video surveillance and properly staffing the station. Police reviewed footage from cameras in the station but were unable to find video of the suspect. The mother said police told her it would be difficult to identify a suspect using video because of its poor quality.

“Like any property owner, BART has the responsibility to maintain its property in a reasonably safe condition, and it failed to do that,” Justi said.

The robbery came just a couple of months after BART officials acknowledged that most of the surveillance cameras on its trains were inoperable decoys and agreed to replace them with working equipment after they were besieged with complaints from riders.

Trost said BART’s stations are safe and protected by “a robust surveillance system with cameras in multiple areas.”

BART police also seemed uninterested in pursuing a vigorous investigation, Justi said. In addition to what he called their “lackadaisical” approach to reviewing surveillance video, they weren’t interested when the mother told them her son’s stolen Clipper card was being used and could be tracked. Police had a sketch artist draw a picture of the suspect, the suit says, but failed to distribute it to the public, sharing it only internally.

Frustrated with what she considered an inadequate investigation, the mother turned to Justi for help.

“She felt like she was having to advocate for them to do their own job and that they were annoyed with her,” Justi said.

Trost said BART police conducted a thorough and serious investigation.

“We immediately assigned an investigator, we met with family, went through hours and hours of surveillance footage based on what the boy said he and the suspect were wearing,” she said. “When we found no video, we hired a sketch artist and shared it with other law enforcement agencies.”

Justi said the incident has left the boy less confident and independent, and that his grades at school had fallen. The suit seeks unspecified damages, including punitive damages intended to get BART to change its ways.

Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan