B & B Target Center, Inc. v. Figueroa-Sancha

871 F. Supp. 2d 71, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 92208, 2012 WL 2562371
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedJuly 3, 2012
DocketCivil No. 11-1901(FAB)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 871 F. Supp. 2d 71 (B & B Target Center, Inc. v. Figueroa-Sancha) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
B & B Target Center, Inc. v. Figueroa-Sancha, 871 F. Supp. 2d 71, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 92208, 2012 WL 2562371 (prd 2012).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER1

FRANCISCO A. BESOSA, District Judge.

Before the Court is the defendants’ motion to dismiss all of plaintiffs’ B & B Target Center, Inc. (“B & B”), Luis A. Bermudez-Gonzalez (“Bermudez”) and Ana M. Latorre-Echeandia (“Latorre”) (collectively, “plaintiffs”) claims pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) (“Rule 12”). After reviewing the plaintiffs’ complaint and associated pleadings, the Court GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART the defendants’ motion to dismiss.

I. Background

A. Procedural History

Plaintiffs filed their complaint on September 14, 2011 against defendants Jose Figueroa-Sancha (“Figueroa”) in his personal and official capacity as Superintendent of the Puerto Rico Police Department (“PRPD”); Carlos W. Carrion-Rodriguez (“Carrion”) in his personal and official capacity as Director of the PRPD’s Organized Crime Office; and Jose G. CamachoCrespo (“Camacho”), Raymond RamosBajandas (“Ramos”), Miguel Crespo-De Leon (“Crespo”) and Arelys Serrano-Crespo (“Serrano”) in their personal and official capacities as officers in the PRPD’s Gun Shop Inspections & Investigations Division. Plaintiffs also included in their [74]*74complaint defendants Juan C. Puig-Morales (“Prig”) in his personal and official capacity as Secretary of the Puerto Rico Department of Treasury (“Treasury”); Elba N. Vazquez-Rasmo (“Vazquez”) in her personal and official capacity as Director of the Treasury’s Bureau of Consumer Taxes; and Auberto Otero-Rivera (“Otero”) in his personal and official capacity as an Internal Revenue Officer of the Treasury’s Bureau of Consumer Taxes.

Plaintiffs filed the complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, claiming that the defendants violated their civil rights. The plaintiffs seek punitive damages, compensatory damages, and injunctive relief resulting from the defendants’ alleged violations of the plaintiffs’ Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights, the defendants’ direct and supervisory liability, and defendants’ failure to take remedial action. Id. at pp. 20-25. Plaintiffs also seek attorney’s fees and costs pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988.

The defendants have filed a total of four motions to dismiss, (Docket Nos. 18,19, 22, and 37), and all defendants have filed motions specifically to join Puig’s motion to dismiss that was filed on November 28, 2011. (Docket No. 22.) The plaintiffs filed two responses in opposition, one on January 9, 2012, (Docket No. 30), and one on March 27, 2012, (Docket No. 43). Defendants seek dismissal of all claims against all defendants pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) for plaintiffs’ failure to state a claim.

B. Factual History

On January 5, 2009, the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (“ATF”) sent an email to B & B informing it that a weapon traced to B & B’s name had been found outside of the business. (Docket No. 1 at ¶ 3.3.) B & B discovered that the weapon was part of a group of twenty-five firearms that should have been sent to a gun store in Oklahoma, but were never received. Id. B & B then filed a claim with the ATF and PRPD on January 8, 2009, which prompted B & B, the ATF and the PRPD to conduct a complete inventory of B & B’s firearms from January 8 through January 22, 2009. Id. at ¶ 3.4. The inventory revealed that twenty-eight firearms were missing, and the plaintiffs reported that finding to the PRPD. Id.

Unbeknownst to the plaintiffs, Superintendent Figueroa sent a letter to Secretary Puig on May 1, 2009, recommending that Treasury revoke B & B’s Gunsmith License (“license”) based on B & B’s alleged negligent care and handling of firearms at its business. Id. at ¶ 3.5. Officers Camacho and Serrano inspected B & B on May 27 and August 25, 2009, respectively. Id. at ¶ 3.6. They issued two separately signed Quarterly Inspection Reports that certified B & B was in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. Id. Despite those inspections, plaintiffs were notified that their license was revoked in a letter signed by Vazquez and personally delivered to them by Otero on September 17, 2009. Id. at ¶ 3.7.

The September 17, 2009 letter notified the plaintiffs that B & B’s license was summarily revoked, but “failed to adequately expound the specific factual allegations of B & B’s purported misconduct.” Id. at ¶ 3.8. Immediately upon receiving the letter, the plaintiffs’ requested to examine the files on which the revocation was based, but Otero refused. Id. at ¶ 3.10. Later that same day, the plaintiffs filed a claim before the Treasury’s Office of Procedural Adjudications, requesting a dismissal of the summary revocation of their license. Id. The plaintiffs then showed a copy of the complaint to Otero (also on September 17, 2009) who refused a second time to allow the plaintiffs to examine the file on which the license revocation was based. Id. On September 18, [75]*752011, plaintiffs met with Director Carrion, Officers Camacho and Ramos and others at PRPD’s General Headquarters in order to “ascertain the basis” for the revocation of their license. Id. at ¶ 3.12. The plaintiffs requested to examine the relevant files for a third time, and were denied again. Id. at ¶ 3.13. Officer Camacho stated that the revocation was based on an inconsistency between B & B’s inventory and the PRPD’s electronic registry; once the deficiency was corrected the license would be re-instated. Id. His explanation was incorrect. Id. The plaintiffs then requested that their license be temporarily restored pending a complete audit by an external expert. Id. at ¶ 3.14. That suggestion was also denied. Id.

From September 21, 2009, through September 28, 2009, the PRPD conducted a warrantless search of B & B and seized all of B & B’s firearms. Id. at ¶ 3.17. Some of the seized firearms were legally owned by third parties who had deposited them with B & B for custody and/or repair. Id. at ¶ 3.17. The plaintiffs filed a second claim before the Treasury’s Office of Procedural Adjudications requesting an immediate hearing in lieu of B & B’s continuing “economic and moral damages.” Id. at ¶ 3.19. On October 22, 2009, the plaintiffs also sent a similar letter to Superintendent Figueroa that detailed the damages B & B was suffering: loss of income, damage to their reputation, and several lawsuits against the plaintiffs by customers for various contractual damages. Id. at ¶¶ 3.20, 3.21.

On March 15, 2010, the plaintiffs presented their case during an Administrative Hearing. Id. at ¶ 3.22. The Treasury’s Examining Officer issued a Resolution on September 8, 2010, (which became final on November 15, 2010) that found for the plaintiffs and required the re-issuing of the plaintiffs’ license. Id. at ¶ 3.23. The Resolution found that the police had erred in revoking the license and that the “Plaintiffs’ due process rights were clearly violated.” Id.

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Bluebook (online)
871 F. Supp. 2d 71, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 92208, 2012 WL 2562371, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/b-b-target-center-inc-v-figueroa-sancha-prd-2012.