Concertgoer With Broken Neck Sues Over Crowd Surfing

SALISBURY, N.C. (CN) - After breaking her neck when a crowd surfer at a punk-rock show dove onto her, a North Carolina woman has sued the venue for damages.

Megan Osborn says no one at the Neighborhood Theatre in Charlotte warned concertgoers about the possibility of dangerous crowd surfing when she attended a May 26, 2015, concert of the band The Story So Far.  

“As the plaintiff was watching the show, another member of the audience was allowed on stage and, suddenly and unexpectedly, dove off the stage onto the plaintiff, resulting in severe and permanent injuries,” Osborn says.

The injured concertgoer filed her complaint on March 30 in Rowan County Superior Court.

She claims the theater and its owners knew or should have known that the crowd was becoming unruly “and that the security, or lack thereof, was permitting this behavior and creating this dangerous condition on the premises.

In addition to Neighborhood Theatre Partners LLC, defendants to the complaint include Broadspire Management Services Inc., Hyperion Group LLC, North Davidson Acquisition LLC and MaxxMusic Inc.

Neither the theater, North Davidson nor MaxxMusic have returned requests for comment on the lawsuit.

Osborn says she suffered other injuries as well as the broken neck, and that her “physical pain, suffering, permanent scarring and mental anguish” continues to this day.

Represented by Payton Hoover of Charlotte-based Campbell and Associates, Osborn seeks $25,000 in damages.

Hoover has not returned a phone call seeking comment.

The Story So Far is a pop-punk band in that formed in Walnut Creek, California, in 2007. Altpress.com reports that the band’s name is a reference to a song by another pop-punk band, New Found Glory.

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