Mall of America settles lawsuit over boy thrown from balcony

@ap.news FILE – Shoppers, visitors and employees exit the Mall of America on March 17, 2020 as the mall in Bloomington, Minn. The family of a boy who was severely injured when he was thrown off a third-floor balcony at the Mall of America in April 2019 has reached a confidential settlement with the shopping center, which includes making changes to its trespassing policies, the family and mall announced Monday, Dec. 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Jim Mone, File)

By TRISHA AHMED Associated Press/Report for America
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Mall of America in Bloomington says it will toughen its trespassing policies as part of a settlement with the family of a boy who was severely injured when a man with a history of causing disturbances at the mall threw him from a third-floor balcony.

Additional details of the settlement announced Monday were not released. The boy, identified only as Landen, was 5 when Emmanuel Aranda threw him nearly 40 feet to the ground.

Aranda had been banned from the mall twice in previous years. He pleaded guilty in the attack. The family had sued the mall saying it should have prevented Aranda from “prowling” there without being closely followed.