CLEVELAND — The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office has announced charges for the parking garage collapse last year at Marine Towers West in Lakewood.
In November 2021, a month prior to the collapse, Marine Towers contracted with Atlas Masonry Restoration and Maintenance to perform concrete repairs on the property.
On Dec. 22, 2021, the project foreman and another worker removed two support pillars in the lower level of the parking garage. Only rebar remained to support the structure.
That evening, a tenant took photos of the exposed rebar after spotting it while taking out the trash. The tenant said he was in the garage taking trash to the dumpster when he noticed the concrete collars forming the outside of two support columns appeared to have been cut away. The support columns were on the lower level of the garage and located on the left side, precisely in the area that collapsed, he said.
The previous month, the tenant said he noticed the concrete at the bottom of the pillars had begun to deteriorate and large cracks had begun to form. The construction crew, who the city said were operating without a permit, had been working at the parking garage, which was built in 1963, in the two weeks leading up to the collapse.
On Dec. 23, the garage collapsed. Residents in Marine Towers West, which is the adjacent building next to the collapsed garage, were asked to leave their residences while authorities investigated the collapse.
“It is a miracle that the recklessness displayed, not only by Atlas Masonry but the owner and foreman in charge, did not result in serious injury or death,” said Prosecutor Michael C. O’Malley. “Their poor decisions put hundreds of lives at risk, and they need to be held accountable for that.”
According to the prosecutor's office, "an investigation conducted by the LPD (Lakewood Police Department) revealed there were no plans to brace or shore the pillars during the repair work. In addition, no building permits were obtained through the City of Lakewood by Atlas Masonry for the work."
Charges were sought against the company, it's owner and the foreman involved. All three were indicted on one count each of inducing panic, all third-degree felonies. Last month, the company was convicted of one county of failure to secure a permit for the work conducted at the garage, authorities said.
“On the day of the collapse, I committed that the City of Lakewood would not rest until we got to the bottom of what happened,” said Lakewood Mayor Meghan F. George. “Our exhaustive investigation revealed that the collapse was no accident. In reality, it was caused by outrageous conduct by Atlas Construction and its leadership, who had zero regard for the safety of the residents of Marine Towers West. Once the facts involved became clear, I requested that the County Prosecutor review the case to determine if felony charges could be pursued. On behalf of the City of Lakewood, I want to offer our thanks to Prosecutor O’Malley and his team for their work, and we look forward to its resolution in the court system.”
The company owner and foreman will both be arraigned at a later date.
RELATED: Tenant: Missing concrete, exposed rebar structure found night before parking deck's collapse
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
