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Tamco Construction Corp.

Description

One worker was killed and four others were hospitalized with concussions when a building collapsed on the Upper East Side during construction of an additional floor and restaurant. OSHA's inspection found that twelve inch cinderblocks were being hoisted from the ground and stacked on the fifth floor. Three employees were on the second floor working. The front 8 feet of the fifth floor then collapsed and continued down through all the floors to the basement. Up to 100 blocks fell with the collapse. NY Times reported that this was Tamco's first commercial job and that prosecutors contended that Mr. Tam and Mr. Ai knew the structure was insecure and had ignored warnings by experienced people at the site.

Prosecutors

District Attorney Robert Morgenthau

Incident Type

Wall/Building Collapse

County

New York

State

New York

Date

May 16, 2002

Available case materials include

  • Media Clips & Gov't. Press

OSHA Inspection

Contact for Additional Information

Unavailable

Victims

First Last Age Title Employer Injury Type
Antonio Romano 41 Unavailable Tamco Fatality

Defendants

Name Type Title Plea Information Conviction Sentence
Michael Tam Individual Owner Pleaded not guilty Found guilty by jury in State Supreme Court. Acquitted of second degree manslaughter and assault charges. Faced up to $1,000 in fines and one year in jail at sentencing (result unknown).
Penal Crimes Charged

Second Degree Manslaughter; Assault; Reckless Endangerment

Other Crimes Charged

Unavailable

Ken Ai Individual Foreman Pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter in exchange for minimum sentence of one to three years and a maximum of two to six years in prison Unavailable
Penal Crimes Charged

Second Degree Manslaughter; Assault; Reckless Endangerment

Other Crimes Charged

Unavailable

Tamco Construction Corp. Entity Entity Unavailable Unavailable
Penal Crimes Charged

Unavailable

Other Crimes Charged

Unavailable