A wrongful death suit was recently brought against the Salvation Army thrift store, as well as others, by the family of Danny C. Johnson, 59, who lived 23 days after being pulled from the rubble of last year’s Salvation Army thrift store wall collapse.
Filed in Common Pleas Court, the lawsuit names Johnson as the seventh fatality from the collapse that killed six people and injured fourteen in June 2013.
Johnson was in the thrift store when an unsupported four-story brick wall of the adjoining building – being demolished – collapsed on the store, leveling it. His legs were crushed and he suffered a minor heart attack. “Johnson’s previous heart-asthma-related issues were exacerbated by his injuries that day,” the suit claims.
Johnson was hospitalized for nine days, sent home in a wheelchair and returned to the hospital a few times where he later died.
The wrongful death suit wasn’t immediately filed because attorneys wanted to be sure that Johnson’s death was a direct result of the building collapse. “Medical records and a forensic pathologist have confirmed his death was caused by those injuries in this preventable tragedy.”
The suit alleges STB and the Salvation Army “failed to take the necessary steps” to protect customers and employees, and the demolition was done in an “incompetent, reckless and outrageous” manner.
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