Engineer charged in mall cave-in
A discredited engineer who declared a leaking northern Ontario mall structurally sound just weeks before its roof-deck garage collapsed was charged Friday in what police described as a “challenging investigation.”
Two women were killed and several others were injured in the June 2012 cave-in at the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake.
Ontario Provincial Police said 64-year-old Robert Wood was charged with two counts of criminal negligence causing death and one count of criminal negligence causing bodily harm.
Wood’s family said he had no comment on the charges.
“This was a unique, complex and challenging investigation which took considerable time to process evidence and being precise in the application of criminal law,” said Det.Supt. Dave Truax.
Adding to the intricacy of the case was the “multitude of various specialists” brought in to help police in the case.
“This was very unique where it involved Ontario Provincial Police retaining independent third-party engineers and contractors in order to assist us in our criminal investigation,” Truax said, adding that a company that analyzed concrete and another that created a 3D diagram of the mall were also used.
Truax wouldn’t say if charges against others were pending but emphasized that the criminal investigation was ongoing.
“We recognize that there are many questions still unanswered about the events of that day,” he said. “I would like to thank the people of Elliot Lake for their patience, their resiliency during this very difficult time.”
Doloris Perizzolo, 74, and Lucie Aylwin, 37 were killed in the collapse.
A judicial inquiry into the collapse concluded last October after hearing from 125 witnesses over 117 days. A report from those proceedings is due before Oct. 31 this year.
The inquiry heard the rooftop garage of the poorly designed structure leaked from the beginning, and decades of water and salt penetration caused severe rusting of its steel support structure.
Yet, the inquiry heard, Wood declared the centre structurally sound just weeks before it collapsed.
Wood was stripped of his professional engineering licence in November 2011 after admitting to misconduct unrelated to the mall.