ADT Security equipment failed to prevent burglary, lawsuit claims

The owner of a stereo company claims an improperly set up security system allowed the store to be burglarized just a month after the system's installation.  Richard Pritchett, doing business as Gulf Coast Stereo, claims he hired defendants ADT, doing business as ADT Security Services Inc. and Tyco Integrated Security LLC, to install a security system on the premises on Oct. 17, 2013.  Three motion detectors were supposed to be set up as part of the installation package, according to the complaint filed Sept. 3 in Jefferson County District Court.

On Nov. 26, 2013, one month after the equipment was installed, GCS was burglarized, the suit states. However, the security system failed to alert anyone that a burglary was in progress, the complaint says.

Afterwards, the defendants sent a service technician to determine what had gone awry.

"The technician determined that the security failure resulted from two reasons stemming from defendants' installation of the security equipment," the suit states. "First, it was determined that the only working motion detector was placed out of position. Second, it was determined that the other two motion detectors were never connected to the system."

GCS accuses the defendants of negligence, saying they failed to install the security system in proper position and failed to properly connect the system, among other negligent acts.

GCS also says the defendants violated the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, breached their express and implied warranties and engaged in fraud.

In its complaint, GCS is seeking damages, plus attorney's fees, costs, pre- and post-judgment interest and other relief the court deems just.

Malachi Daws of The Daws Law Firm in Beaumont will be representing it.

Jefferson County District Court case number: D196-076

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed at the Jefferson County District Court. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note that a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt, and it represents only one side of the story.