Family sues accused killers, Bridgeview gas station over 2010 death at business
BY LAUREN FITZPATRICK Sun-Times Media lfitzpatrick@suntimes.com June 21, 2012 5:18PM
Marchello Cappelletti / photo from Cook County Sheriff's office
Maps
Updated: July 23, 2012 7:48AM
The family of a Burbank man beaten to death at a Bridgeview gas station in 2010 is suing his alleged murderers for a hate crime and the parent companies of the gas station and attached mini mart where he was attacked.
Adam Abdallah’s parents said in a lawsuit filed Thursday the owner of the gas station should have cleared the parking lot of loiterers who later killed the 27-year-old.
The companies should have known that Stephen Miller, Matthew Doolan and Marchello Cappelletti “were known to have violent propensities, engage in criminal activity and present a risk of harm” to customers, according to the lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court.
Shell Oil Co., Shell Oil Products Co., Equilon Enterprises, RDK Ventures, Mac’s Convenience Stores, Circle K Stores and Alimentation Couche-Tardalso “permitted groups of people and individuals in parked vehicles to loiter on their premises when they knew or should have known that such persons posed a risk of harm to persons lawfully on their properties,” the suit continued.
“It just appears that they could have taken stronger measures to prevent this by having appropriate security,” said James A. Karamanis, attorney for the family. “It’s just a tragedy that never should have happened.”
Miller flashed gang signs at Abdallah and his friends at the gas station, 8700 S. Harlem Ave., about midnight June 23, 2010, according to Cook County prosecutors.
Miller and Doolan began fighting with Abdallah and his two friends, hitting Abdallah in the head with a jug of windshield washer fluid and in the face with a bottle as he lay on the ground, they said.
“He just wanted gas,” Karamanis said. “They literally pulled him out of the car. He didn’t even want to get out of the car.”
Abdallah, who police said was not involved in any gang activity, died shortly afterward at Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.
The suit also accuses Doolan, Miller and Cappelletti of a hate crime against Abdallah.
“He’s obviously Middle Eastern,” Karamanis said.
Murder cases against Doolan, 26,Miller, 20, and Cappelletti, 25, still are pending in the Bridgeview courthouse.
