A Nassau County construction company and its owner have been indicted on several charges in connection with the 2019 death of 5-year-old Alyson Pinto-Chaumana who was killed when a stone wall collapsed on her in Brooklyn. According to an NBC New York news report, the defendants are facing manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and other charges. Prosecutors say the girl was killed when a “dangerously flawed” stone fence collapsed on her in front of her mother.
The child, along with her mother and a few other friends, were visiting another friend on Harman Street in Bushwick the night of Aug. 29, 2019, when the incident occurred. The group was waiting in an enclosed patio and standing next to an approximately five-foot high wall.
Multiple Violations
The decorative wall had a base of heavy stone pillars topped with horizontal stone plates. Without warning, the pillars and horizontal plates fell on the child, crushing her skull and causing her death, according to the indictment. NBC reports that an investigation that followed revealed that the licensed contractor who built that fence was hired in September 2018 to renovate the property façade and also build the wall.
The indictment states that he violated multiple city building code rules. Because he was licensed as a contractor in Nassau County, but not authorized to file for work permits with the New York City Department of Buildings, he allegedly had another contractor file the application for the façade work. The application didn’t cover the wall and the contractor never got the required permit for the wall.
He also failed to have a licensed engineer or architect conduct a post-construction analysis of the wall’s stability as required by city ordinance. An NYC buildings engineer also noted that there were no steel reinforcing bars in any of the pillars, which is required. That made it “highly unstable,” the buildings engineer determined.
Liability Issues
Facade collapses are sadly common in New York City and they happen due to a number of reasons. Many of these incidents stem from the building owner’s or property manager’s and/or other responsible party’s failure to properly maintain the structure. As buildings age, facades get weaker. It is the duty of building owners and/or managers and other responsible parties to ensure that the conditions of buildings and facades are monitored frequently and maintained as required by the city codes.
When portions of a facade become unstable, landlords (building owners) and other responsible parties should address fixing them right away and also construct sidewalk sheds, nets, or scaffolding to prevent injuries to passersby. Such accidents have the potential to cause major, if not catastrophic or even fatal injuries.
General construction companies, managing agents, building owners, some contractors and sub-contractors have a responsibility to ensure that facades, scaffolds and other structures at a construction site are properly secured so they don’t pose a danger to workers, visitors or pedestrians at or near the worksite. If you have been injured as the result of poorly maintained or poorly secured facades, please understand that you have legal rights.
In such cases, injured bystanders or passersby can seek compensation for damages including, but not limited to, medical expenses, lost wages and benefits, cost of hospitalization, rehabilitation, permanent injury, disabilities, past and future pain and suffering, etc. Families of deceased victims may be able to file a wrongful death lawsuit seeking compensation for damages such as lost future income, funeral costs, medical expenses, pain and suffering, etc. Liable parties may include construction companies, general contractors, sub-contractors, property or building owners/managers, manufacturers of defective products, etc.
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
If you or a loved one has been injured as a result of a facade or building collapse, the experienced New York personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help you better understand your legal rights and options, and also fight hard to recover just compensation for you.
For over 50 years, our skilled accident attorneys have established a proven track record of helping injured victims get fair compensation for their losses. Our law firm recently recovered $5,600,000 for a bicyclist who was hit by a van, and $2,550,000 for another victim of a truck accident, and $3,000,000 for a pedestrian who was hit by a car, and the full $1,000,000 insurance policy for a pedestrian who was hit by a truck, and $4,625,000 for a driver who was in a car and was hit by a van, and $2,500,000 for a man who fell through an improperly secured hole. Also, one of our clients obtained a verdict for $43,940,000 and another of our clients got a verdict for $23,500,000, both in medical malpractice cases.
Please contact us TOLL FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorneys’ fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury and/or medical malpractice cases in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
Other TOLL FREE phone numbers for us are:
1-800-RADIO-LAW, 1-888-WYPADEK, OR 1-800-LAS-LEYES
Please visit us at: www.WORK4YOULAW.com
Source: https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/indictments-issued-in-nyc-stone-wall-collapse-that-killed-5-year-old-in-front-of-her-mom/3610638/