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Arson case leads to $1 million lawsuit against convenience store
['Clark Kauffman', 'More From Author', '- February']
Date: 2022-02-17 00:00:00
A convenience-store operator is facing a $1 million lawsuit for allegedly selling gasoline to a man accused of using the fuel to torch a Des Moines apartment building.
The insurance company for the owner of the Southern Knolls apartment complex at 1300 E. Watrous St., is suing the QuikTrip Corp. of Tulsa, Oklahoma, in federal court, alleging gross negligence.
According to the lawsuit, Curtis Giovannte entered the QuikTrip gas station and convenience store at 3941 S.E. 14th St., in Des Moines, shortly after 6 p.m. on April 7, 2021. Giovannte purchased several plastic soda-fountain cups, then took the cups outside to the gas pumps and tried to fill them with $2 worth of gasoline.
A QuikTrip employee stopped the pump to prevent the sale and explained to Giovannte that plastic beverage cups were not appropriate containers to transport gasoline.
Giovannte left the store and returned about 10 minutes later with an appropriate gas container. He encountered the store’s assistant manager, Solonia Gene, introduced himself to her, and then allegedly made several comments indicating that he intended to use the gas he was about to purchase for some sort of “nefarious and/or criminal purposes.”
Giovannte told Gene, “You going to get to know me real well,” and said he was “going to handle a situation” and was “going to be broadcast,” according to the lawsuit.
Despite those statements, QuikTrip sold Giovannte several dollars’ worth of gas, the lawsuit claims. He then took his partially filled gas can and immediately walked across the street to the Southern Knolls apartment building where he entered a first-floor hallway. Once inside, he allegedly poured the gasoline on the floors and walls and ignited it with a lighter.
The fire quickly spread and caused significant damage to the building, although no injuries were reported.
Giovannte was later arrested and charged with arson. According to the lawsuit, Gene admitted she was worried about selling gas to Giovannte because she believed he was going to use it to start a fire. She also is alleged to have said that she did not have time to intervene or call 911 because it was a busy time of night with a number of customers in the store, adding that she prayed that night because she was worried Giovannte was going to cause damage or harm someone.
State Auto Property and Casualty Insurance Co. alleges that it paid more than $1 million to the owner of Southern Knolls as compensation for damages and lost rental income. The lawsuit seeks recovery of those payments.
The insurer alleges QuikTrip failed to appreciate the risk of selling gas to Giovannte despite evidence of “clear criminal intent,” and that QuikTrip failed to call 911 or otherwise alert the authorities to the imminent risk Giovannte posed.
QuikTrip has yet to file a response to the lawsuit. A spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
The status of Giovannte’s criminal case is unclear, as there were no court records in the case that were publicly accessible Thursday.
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