$48 Million In Punitive Damages For Victims' Families In 2008 Crane Collapse
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A jury in Manhattan decided Monday that the families of two men killed in a 2008 construction crane collapse should get $48 million in punitive damages from the crane's owner and his companies.
The jury ordered Monday that James Lomma and his companies pay the families of Ramadan Kurtaj and Donald Leo in connection to the May 2008 collapse on East 91st Street.
Last week, the same jury awarded $47.8 million to the families in compensatory damages.
The families' attorneys had said Lomma allowed an inferior repair. Leo, 30, was operating the crane when it collapsed and he fell to his death. Kurtaj, 27, was crushed underneath.
Prosecutors alleged in 2012 that the crane had been damaged a year earlier at a different site and the collapse occurred because Lomma approved the use of a cheap, Chinese-made replacement part of inferior quality.
The collapse came two months after another crane collapsed, killing seven people in Midtown. The incidents spurred new safety measures.
Lomma's attorney did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment.
Lomma was acquitted of manslaughter in 2012.
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