PITTSBURGH -- The mother of a Homewood woman killed by a falling utility pole has filed a lawsuit against the city.
Marquetta Grate, 28, of Homewood, had just dropped her 3-year-old daughter off at a Head Start program and walked across Frankstown Avenue when a furniture delivery truck rounded the bend and hit an 800-pound metal pole on May 15. The pole fell on Grate, killing her.
According to WTAE's news exchange partners at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, an Allegheny County judge granted a request on behalf of Grate's mother, Gloria Grate, to preserve the pole as evidence, attorney Michael Rosenzweig said. The pole is in the custody of the city, he said.
According to a news release from Edgar Snyder & Associates, the law firm representing Gloria Grate, the lawsuit will claim the city was negligent in inspecting and maintaining the pole that fell. Grate's lawyer also claims the city refused to relocate or properly secure the pole, despite knowing of repeated instances of the pole being struck by buses and trucks.
Along with the city, Levin Furniture, Penske Trucking and the truck driver, Christopher Caudil, are also named in the suit.
The suit claims those involved knew that Frankstown Avenue was too narrow to accommodate a full-sized tractor-trailer and that they were also aware that the pole was in a dangerous and hazardous position.
On Thursday, Levin Furniture CEO Robert Levin released a statement that said, "Although we have not received a copy of the lawsuit, we were and we remain deeply saddened by this tragic accident and our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to Mrs. Grate and her family."
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