CLEVELAND — Editor's Note: The above video features previous reporting on this story.
A Cuyahoga County grand jury has indicted Atlas Masonry, the company's owner, and its foreman for the December 2021 garage collapse at Marine Towers West in Lakewood.
Atlas Masonry Restoration and Maintenance, owner Elmer Mekker, and foreman Charles Hawley were all indicted on one count of inducing panic. They will be arraigned at the Cuyahoga County Justice Center at a later date. 3News is attempting to contact Mekker and Hawley and will update this post with any comments.
The collapse occurred at approximately 10 a.m. on December 23. The high-rise was deemed safe at 2 p.m. on the following day. Around 24 cars were in the garage when it collapsed. There were no serious injuries.
“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 Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael C. O’Malley in a statement. “Their poor decisions put hundreds of lives at risk, and they need to be held accountable for that.”
According to a release from the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office, on the day before the collapse, Hawley and a co-worker began working on the parking garage pillars in the afternoon. They removed the concrete around two support pillars on the lower level of the parking garage, leaving just exposed rebar to support the structure.
An investigation conducted by the Lakewood Police Department revealed that there had been no plans to brace or shore the pillars during the repair work. Prosecutors say that no building permits were obtained through the city of Lakewood by Atlas Masonry for the work. Atlas Masonry was contracted by Marine Towers in November 2021 to "complete various concrete repairs on the property."
In late December, Lakewood Mayor Meghan George told 3News' Mark Naymik that construction was taking place inside the garage in the days leading up to the collapse. George's statement was the exact same thing that residents of Marine Tower West and its neighboring tower had been saying for days. George added that such work would have likely required the company to apply for a permit and noted that the city had no record of a permit for work.
“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,” George said in a statement following the indictments. “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.”
Last month, Atlas Masonry was convicted of one count of failure to secure a permit in Lakewood Municipal Court for the Lakewood Marine Towers West parking garage.
Previous Reporting:
- City of Lakewood files criminal charges in Marine Towers garage collapse investigation
- Listen to 9-1-1 call: Lakewood parking garage collapsed day construction crews were on-site without permit, city says
- Residents of Lakewood high-rise displaced by garage collapse allowed to return to apartments
- Underground parking garage collapses at Marine Towers West Apartments in Lakewood