Manslaughter charges upheld in Azure crane collapse case

A judge has upheld manslaughter charges against an owner and a mechanic in connection with a rig collapse at a construction site that killed two workers on the Upper East Side in May 2008, CBS reported. The judge today turned down the defendants’ bid to get the case dismissed and the case is now headed for a trial this spring or summer. Prosecutors said owner James Lomma and mechanic Tibor Varganyi arranged for a cheap welding job on a 200-foot-tall crane at the site of the Azure cond-op at 333 East 91st Street. They say the weld failed after a month of use and the crane crashed into the building. Varganyi’s lawyer declined to comment. Lawyers for Lomma and the companies didn’t immediately return calls. The companies’ lawyer has said the collapse was an accident, not a crime. [CBS]

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