Victim: Complex misled her on security

Lai Chau was kidnapped from Remington Apartment Homes in 2001 and shot three times. She is suing the complex's owners.

By DONG-PHUONG NGUYEN
Published December 10, 2004

TAMPA - Soft-spoken and appearing nervous at times, Lai Chau told a jury Thursday that she was drawn to Remington Apartment Homes, in part, by its security gates and alarms.

Several months after she renewed her lease in 2001, three assailants slipped into the complex and abducted Chau at gunpoint, then forced her back into her car, a souped-up pink Acura Integra. They drove her around town and shot her in the head three times.

Had she known of the north Tampa's community's crime problems, she never would have moved in, Chau testified during two hours of questioning by her lawyer, Lyann Goudie.

Her assailants were convicted of their crimes. Chau, 22, is suing the apartment complex's owner, Southstar Equity, and property manager, Brookside Properties, in a case that accuses them of negligence.

She said a leasing agent sold her on the complex during a golf cart tour in the summer of 2000. The agent pointed to the security gate, the one entrance and exit and the individual alarm in each unit.

"If they hadn't told me the lies, I wouldn't be going through what I am going through now," she said.

Chau, a petite college student with blond highlights in her black hair, still bears scars on her face and throat.

In court, she was barely audible at times, choking up when describing the moments after she was shot.

She talked of her recovery, saying she now lives in fear. She said she is afraid on elevators, is overcome with emotion whenever anyone is shot in movies or on television and rolls up her car windows when stopped at a light.

She suffers from dizziness, has lost hearing in her right ear and can't concentrate in school. She still attends the University of South Florida and hopes to become a pharmacist.

Chau now lives with her father and grandmother in Largo and works four hours a week at a mall. Before the crime, she was working 30 hours a week at her father's restaurant and 20 hours a week in the mall. She was also taking a full course load at school.

Defense attorney Billy Gunn questioned Chau for just three minutes.

"Since you were working so much, you weren't out on the property at night, wandering around?" Gunn asked Chau.

"No, sir," she replied quietly.

"The limited amount of time you were on the property, you remember seeing police officers?"

"Twice," she said.

When Gunn was done , Judge Sam Pendino asked the jury if they had any questions for Chau. Two jurors scribbled questions on legal pads.

Lawyers from both sides gathered around Pendino to review the questions. The judge rejected one question, allowing a two-part question through.

"Do you still have a hobby fixing up cars? Do you still go to car shows when you have time?"

Chau, a car enthusiast, said she has been to two car shows. She drives a different Acura Integra. This one is basic black.

The trial resumes Monday.

[Last modified December 9, 2004, 23:35:12]