WILLOWICK, Ohio — Cars are hovering over collapsed concrete after the upper deck of a garage caved in at an apartment complex in Willowick.
The collapse and fire happened last night at the Shoregate Towers Apartments, injuring two people.
The complex has a history of building code violations, including one related to the garage, according to court records and the city.
Willowick Fire Chief Bill Malovrh says he is almost 100% sure no one is in the rubble. That’s why they brought in a demolition crew to remove the cars.
It’s so unsafe, the fire crews can’t walk on the upper deck and had to have a drone fly underneath to see the damage that spans about half a football field.
“I never saw that in my whole life, never, the worst ever — the worst ever,” longtime Shoregate Towers resident Carol Pianecki said.
But the garage collapse isn’t completely surprising to Ben Perillo.
‘I’ve been calling it. I've been calling the management and everything saying there’s concrete falling and there's cracks in the ceilings,” Perillo said.
Marc Demarco doesn’t live at the complex but says he was in his Jeep Liberty on the upper deck watching the lightning Wednesday night when the garage caved in.
He called 911.
“I remember it felt like wind, but it must have been the parking lot shifting,” Demarco said. “It happened again, and the next thing I know, I was down in a hole.”
Demarco said it was enough of a drop to bump his head on the ceiling of his Jeep.
“When I came down, I landed on that car. I had seen fire come up around the crack,” Demarco said.
Malovrh said crews felt movement from the current slabs while assessing the scene.
“From where I’m standing to behind me is unsafe,” Malovrh said.
Chief Malovrh confirmed part of the garage had been under construction for a few months. News 5 Investigators requested the city pull permit and inspection records.
“The construction site are where you see the yellow barriers, and they were redoing putting new beams in,” Malovrh said.
One tenant who didn’t want to go on camera said concrete fell on her car last year.
Property managers told News 5 Investigators they did not get complaints and no concrete fell prior to the collapse.
“We tried to warn them, all of us; we’ve all in this building been suffering for a long time — both buildings, actually, you know — it was doomed to happen,” Perillo said.
The owners pleaded no contest but were found guilty of 15 building code violations in May. The owners filed an appeal in the case.
Court records show the property was accused in 2020 of failing to correct damaged concrete and metal beams, columns and foundation walls throughout the garage.
The owners are on probation with Willoughby Municipal Court for mandatory written reporting.
“In all my years living here we had bad things happen, not like this,” Pianecki said.
Perillo recalls warnings from management about not parking over certain spots.
“Yeah, but it wasn’t an urgent warning,” Perillo said.
The city says it will work to determine if any further charges are warranted against the property owner.
The property managers told News 5 Investigators the city was on the grounds just yesterday for a typical inspection.
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