Victim sues flower shop after attack

A woman who was assaulted and tied up in a locked closet last month at a North Charleston flower shop has filed a $1.5 million lawsuit against the business.

Deborah Mack, owner of Carolina Florist on Ashley Phosphate Road, was served with the suit Tuesday, said Mount Pleasant attorney Geoffrey Waggoner. The suit also names as defendants the flower shop and Mack's husband, Lemar "Tommy" Mack, who was arrested and charged in the April 10 attack.

No one answered the phone at the business Tuesday afternoon. Deborah Mack recently declined to comment.

Lemar Mack, 45, who had been convicted of kidnapping two women and raping one of them, was living in a room on the second floor of the business, according to a police report. The suit alleges that the shop assigned Mack duties that provided him with "frequent opportunity to encounter female customers in vulnerable positions, when it knew, or should have known, that he had a history of violence upon women in similar circumstances."

Deborah Mack knew about her husband's violent past, the suit alleges.

"A business that has someone dangerous and knows that they're dangerous should be held accountable," the victim, Beth Ferguson, said Tuesday.

Ferguson, 40, of Goose Creek, said she suffered cuts and bruises and cracked a bone in her back when she fell onto a toilet after escaping from the closet by climbing through a false ceiling.

Lemar Mack is charged with kidnapping, armed robbery and assault and battery with intent to kill. His total bail is $3 million. He remained at the Charleston County Detention Center on Tuesday, according to jail staff.

Reach Nadine Parks at 937-5573 or nparks@postandcourier.com.