The first lawsuit related to the partial collapse of an apartment building in downtown Davenport on May 28 has been filed in Scott County Court, and an attorney says he was “horrified by several aspects” of the case.
The lawsuit accuses defendants of “outrageous neglect and apathy.” Killed in the collapse were Daniel Prien, Ryan Hitchcock and Branden Colvin Sr. All their bodies have been recovered. Other people who survived lost everything they had in the partial collapse of the apartment building known as The Davenport.
The suit, nearly 90 pages long, was filed by attorneys for Dayna Feuerbach eight days
after she escaped the collapsed building.
The lawsuit says the collapse was preventable, and it names as defendants owner Andrew Wold and the City of Davenport. Other defendants include the structural engineering firm, Select Structural, as well as Bi-State Masonry, court documents show.
“I was horrified by several aspects,” lawyer Jeff Goodman told Local 4 News. “First is the egregious incompetence that’s demonstrated with the construction and the shoring efforts of trying to put up two by fours next to this,” and said what happened involved an “egregious and shocking level of incompetence.”
The attorneys representing Feuerbach won a more-than-$1 billion settlement in the
Surfside Condo collapse in Florida. In the Scott County lawsuit, the firm uses photos from a nearby surveillance camera to explain the mechanics of the collapse.
None of the defendants commented on Monday. The City of Davenport says that, because of the pending litigation, they will not comment.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds toured the site on Monday and spoke with officials.
To hear more of what Jeff Goodman says, click on the video above.
