Mini-mart owner has no insurance coverage for shooting man vandalizing his parking lot
Elias Chammas kicked a patron out of his convenience store after identifying him on security tape as having accompanied another man who stole a case of beer. The would-be patron complained to his brother, who returned to confront Chammas and created a verbal altercation. After he was kicked out, he began slinging around packing crates, and Chammas fired two shots with a handgun. Both struck the brother, who then sued Chammas in a civil action. Chammas sought coverage through his commercial liability carrier, Auto-Owners subsidiary Home-Owners Insurance Company. The Court dismissed Chammas' claim because his intentional act of shooting--even if he didn't think he'd hit the vandal--was not an "occurrence" or an "accident" under the liability coverage.