Crane operator Donald Leo plummeted 200 feet to his death and Ramadan Kurtaj was crushed after a crane with a purportedly shoddy repair job fell at an Upper East Side job site. James Lomma, owner of New York Crane and Equipment, in 2012 was found not guilty in criminal court — and was a no-show Friday in civil court.
Two hardhats died because Manhattan crane czar James Lomma okayed a quick fix for one of his rigs rather than stop a construction job, lawyers for the victims charged Friday at the opening of their civil trial
“Cranes do not fall down, cranes are not supposed to fall from the sky,†said Bernadette Panzella, who is representing the family of doomed crane operator Donald Leo.
“This is a very, very simple case,†she said. “That crane was not supposed to fall from the sky and kill Donald Christopher Leo, three weeks before his wedding.â€
Leo, who was 30, had his entire life ahead of him, Panzella said.
“James F. Lomma didn’t do what he was he was supposed to do,†the lawyer said. “It’s not that he didn’t do one thing, he didn’t do anything.”
Panzella noted the presence of Leo’s grieving family and the fact that the kin of the second victim, Ramadan Kurtaj, had flown in from Kosovo to be at the trial.
Read more:Â http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/civil-trial-starts-allegedly-shoddy-cranes-article-1.1803662#ixzz32wpCFs3z
