So after work today I took my usual skateboard route through a shopping center parking lot. I'm not causing any trouble or disturbance whatsoever, just getting my daily cardio in. Pretty much going in a big circle around the lot with a few flip tricks thrown in every now and then. I avoid the sidewalks near the actual stores and stick just to the blacktop.
10 minutes into it a security guard on his bike pulls up to me. Says I have to leave or he will call the cops. Now keep in mind I don't look or act like some punk 14 year old skater stereotype. So I engage in a little friendly convo about the property and how there are NO signs anywhere in the parking warning against skating (i look for these things). No dice, he says that it's a liability issue because it's a private parking lot and that I could sue if I hurt myself. I wasn't really sure about the accuracy on that so I decided to skate home and call it a day. Before I left I got the name of the grounds management company though.
My question, is it highly likely that I indeed have no rights to skate through this parking lot despite the lack of any signage? I plan on at least contacting the management company and not going off of just what the security guard says. This pretty much blows since there are no other smooth skate spots anywhere near my apartment complex. Do I have any leverage going into this?
10 minutes into it a security guard on his bike pulls up to me. Says I have to leave or he will call the cops. Now keep in mind I don't look or act like some punk 14 year old skater stereotype. So I engage in a little friendly convo about the property and how there are NO signs anywhere in the parking warning against skating (i look for these things). No dice, he says that it's a liability issue because it's a private parking lot and that I could sue if I hurt myself. I wasn't really sure about the accuracy on that so I decided to skate home and call it a day. Before I left I got the name of the grounds management company though.
My question, is it highly likely that I indeed have no rights to skate through this parking lot despite the lack of any signage? I plan on at least contacting the management company and not going off of just what the security guard says. This pretty much blows since there are no other smooth skate spots anywhere near my apartment complex. Do I have any leverage going into this?