What to Know
- The operator of a Brooklyn construction company and a foreman were convicted on various charges in connection to a wall collapse that killed a construction worker in 2018, according to the local district attorney's office.
- In the early afternoon of Sept. 12, 2018, part of a support of excavation system (SOE) and an existing masonry wall collapsed, trapping one of the construction workers -- Luis Almonte Sánchez -- who was performing foundation work.
- The unsafe work conditions contributed to the fatal outcome, according to evidence cited by Brooklyn District Attorney Eric González.
The operator of a Brooklyn construction company and a foreman were convicted on various charges in connection to a wall collapse that killed a construction worker in 2018, according to the local district attorney's office.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric González, New York City Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber, and New York City Department of Buildings Acting Commissioner Kazimir Vilenchik jointly announced late last week that Jiaxi “Jimmy” Liu, 49 and of Staten Island, was convicted of criminally negligent homicide, first-degree offering a false instrument for filing, fraudulent practices in violation of worker’s compensation laws, fourth-degree city criminal tax fraud, and related counts. Meanwhile, Wilson García Jr., 48 and also of Staten Island, was found guilty of fourth-degree criminal mischief.
Liu is facing a maximum sentence of eight to 16 years in prison and García is facing up to one year in jail when they are sentenced on April 26, according to the district attorney's office.
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The convictions are related to a worksite incident that took place in 2018. According to Gonzalez, citing case evidence, between April and September 2018, construction workers of WSC Group Inc., a company owned by Liu, took part in the demolition, excavation and foundation work at a construction site in Sunset Park that involved removing a one-story industrial building and replacing it with a four-story manufacturing and community facility that would have a new cellar level for an underground garage.
However, despite warnings of dangerous conditions at the site from workers and adjacent property owners, Liu refused to stop work, González said. Subsequently, in the early afternoon of Sept. 12, 2018, part of a support of excavation system (SOE) and an existing masonry wall collapsed, trapping one of the construction workers -- Luis Almonte Sánchez -- who was performing foundation work. Sanchez, 47, was struck by one of the underpinning pin sections, which weighed well more than 15,000 pounds and was buried under the debris.
First responders couldn’t recover Sanchez’s body until the next day due to unstable conditions at the worksite that worsened because of significant rain.
According to the evidence, Lui and García were mandated by law to make sure that the construction site was in compliance with DOB and Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations in order to provide a safe work site. However, Gonzalez said, the site was not in compliance and failed to follow the design plans submitted and approved by the DOB.
In the days before the tragedy, Liu was informed of potentially dangerous conditions, including that the rear wall was moving forward and that additional support was needed in order to stop the movement. He was also told by a resident who lived adjacent to the rear wall that her patio and garage caved in. However, Liu refused to install additional support and never paused work at the site in order to assess and fix the conditions, González said, adding that Liu also failed to notify the DOB.
Instead, according to evidence, he ordered workers to continue working on the site and in the days before the collapse allowed a trucking company to continue to remove truckloads of dirt during a heavy rainstorm -- destabilizing the site even more and contributing to the fatal collapse, according to the district attorney's office.
In addition, the district attorney's office said that WSC defrauded the New York State Insurance Fund by making false statements about who it was employing, and also committed tax fraud by failing to file taxes between 2015 and 2018.
Gonzalez said that the "verdict should send a strong message that when contractors cut corners and put their workers’ safety at risk – they will face serious and criminal repercussions. The death of Luis Almonte Sanchez was a preventable tragedy that would have been avoided if the operator of the construction site followed all safety protocols or heeded warnings about unsafe conditions.”
Strauber shared similar sentiments in a statement following the conviction Thursday.
“A worker was needlessly crushed to death by tons of debris because a construction company operator responsible for the construction site chose to ignore basic safety protocols and repeated warnings about the dangers at the site," Strauber said. "Today’s conviction, along with the convictions of other defendants in this case, delivers the strong message that failure to follow construction safety laws has serious consequences." DOI thanks the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, the City Buildings Department and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for their partnership on this important investigation and successful prosecution."
Meanwhile, Vilenchik said that Almonte Sánchez's death was "tragic and preventable."
"This incident is a painful reminder that cutting corners on a construction site and ignoring safety regulations can have dire consequences," Vilenchik said.
