A teenage girl is suing the Regal Stonestown movie theater proper after a man attacked her last year during a screening of Fast X, an installment of the long-running Fast & Furious movies.
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday against Regal Cinemas Inc., alleging it failed to provide adequate security, intervene after an assault by a fellow moviegoer or call police on May 29, 2023.
The plaintiff is Brianna Carmignani, who joined two friends for a 6 p.m. screening of Fast X at the mall's theater that day. Carmignani is the daughter of former San Francisco Fire Commissioner Don Carmignani, who made headlines after he was attacked by a homeless man, who was later acquitted. The suit was previously filed in September last year by her guardian, named as "D.C." in court documents.
When a verbal altercation broke out in the movie theater between a man seated in her row and a pair of moviegoers one row ahead, no staff intervened.
The yelling between the groups escalated until one man, identified as "Doe One," got up and walked into a row behind Carmignani, challenging her. When she ignored him, he struck her head and face in an unprovoked attack, the lawsuit alleges.
After Carmignani ran out and found an employee, who directed her to wait outside, the man twice tried to confront her again in the lobby area, the suit says.
But because the theater staff didn't call the cops, the man walked freely out of the movie theater and was not arrested or identified, the suit says.
The complaint says Regal did not have adequate security staffing or procedures despite being aware of previous brawls and assaults at or near the theater's evening screenings during a time when the mall was dealing with chaotic brawls among teenagers.
"Plaintiff has to live in fear of encountering her attacker again and cannot return to Stonestown Galleria ... out of fear of encountering her attacker and being attacked again," the lawsuit states.
Regal Cinemas did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegations.
The law firm representing Carmignani, Colla & Ray, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
A San Francisco police spokesperson said the department was "unable to locate an incident report at this time" for the date and location provided in the suit.
The suit seeks damages for physical and emotional injuries, as well as damages against the unnamed "Doe One" defendant.