Held: Reversed and remanded. The Fireman’s Rule did not preclude recovery by Rivas because the alleged negligence that caused his inju- ries was unrelated to the risks he had accepted as a deputy sheriff. To be precluded by the Fireman’s Rule, a police officer must be injured while in the performance of his official duties and from risks that are reasonably foreseeable in pursuit of those responsibilities. Rivas was injured, due to an allegedly defective condition on the parking lot, while approaching the apartment complex to perform an official duty, i.e., serving the subpoena. When he fell, Rivas was not in the process of serving the subpoena, nor was he injured by the activity of serving a subpoena; therefore, he was not performing his official duties at the time of the accident. Accordingly, the trial court erred by granting summary judgment for Oxon Hill and Southern based on the Fireman’s Rule.


Oxon Hill and Southern owed Rivas a duty to exercise ordinary


care to keep the common area of the apartment complex reasonably safe. A landlord owes a duty to exercise ordinary care to keep the premises reasonably sage for police officers who are injured while en- tering upon property, but before the period of anticipated risks and not from a peril reasonably foreseeable as a part of those risks. Because Rivas was injured before serving the subpoena while crossing an ice- covered area- a risk unrelated to service of the subpoena-he was no different form a tenant or a tenant’s guests. The question of whether Oxon Hill and Southern breached the duty of care was for the jury.


Rivas v. Oxon Hill Joint Venture, No. 6264, September Term, 1998, filed February 1, 2000. Opinion by Byrnes, J.





 


           


 


 


   


 


 





 


  





  


  





 


 





  


  


  


 


 





 





 


Fall 2000 Trial Reporter 47


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