Memorial where Kevin Johnson was killed in bizarre bicycle accident
NIAGARA FALLS, NY - Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster and city police are being cautious about drawing conclusions, after a bizarre accident left a Cataract City man dead on Friday.
Kevin Johnson, 44, died after his bicycle plunged into an uncovered construction hole on 17th Street near Pine Avenue.
The hole, several feet wide and several feet deep, had been dug last week by a contractor in order to repair a catch basin on a storm sewer, according to city officials.
"His death was uncalled for," said a neighbor who wished not to be identified, and who was sweeping up around a makeshift memorial to Johnson erected by friends and family of the victim.
Witnesses tell Niagara Falls Police that Johnson was riding a bicycle down the street when he was hailed by some people on the sidewalk.
"As he turned to look at them, his bike went to the right, and he went past the cones and in to the hole that was opened," said Niagara Falls Police Captain Bill Thompson. "There was a plate (cover) next to the hole...leaving the hole opened," Thompson said, in confirming the hole was not covered when the mishap occurred.
Police are still trying to determine whether a contractor working for the city on Friday left the job and failed to cover the hole as some neighbors contend.
"We're trying to get him to come in for an interview sometime today," Thompson said on Monday afternoon.
Thompson says police also must investigate whether the contractor covered the hole when they were finished working on the sewer and if someone else subsequently moved it.
However, Thompson said it would have been a tall task for someone to move the plate off the hole.
"It was a very big ,thick, steel, heavy plate," said Thompson, which he described as probably weighing several hundred pounds. "So I would think it would have taken several people to move it," he said.
Across town on 100th Street, Love Canal neighborhood resident Dick Walters showed 2 On Your Side four sewer access holes with grates missing, describing them as tragedies waiting to occur.
"Someone could get killed right here," he said, while staring down several feet into one uncovered hole.
The holes on the sparsely traveled street, adjacent to the infamous Love Canal toxic waste dump, are marked with folding caution horses, and Walters says he's been complaining about them since March.
"This is what they put up. A stupid barricade....it's ridiculous," Walters said.
Mayor Paul Dyster told us he was personally unaware of the situation on 100th Street, but promised to have someone from the streets department look into it by the end of the day Monday.
Late Monday afternoon, 2 On Your Side was contacted by Niagara Falls Commissioner of Public Works David Kinney.
Kinney reported that he personally inspected 100th Street and actually found six missing sewer grates. He explained that they were the responsibility of the Niagara Falls Water Board, and that he contacted that agency regarding the issue and has formulated a possible solution.
"I told them that if they can round up the needed number of grates, then my crews are willing to bring over a welder and weld them into place so that they can be secured," Kinney said.
Meantime, back on 17th Street at the site of Friday's tragedy, Captain Thompson says there is the potential that someone could be facing some serious charges, ...whether it was the contractor who left the hole uncovered or, (if it had been covered) -persons who removed it after the fact.
"We would have to consult with the (Niagara County) District Attorney, but it could potentially be criminally negligent homicide, or something like that....but not until all the facts are known," Capt. Thompson said.
Even if no one is charged criminally, it appears Johnson's death will be the subject of a civil suit.
During the dinner hour on Monday, Buffalo attorney John Elmore arrived on the scene with members of Johnson's family, and told WGRZ-TV that he had been retained by them just hours earlier.
"I'm here to begin gathering facts and interviewing witnesses," Elmore said, between snapping pictures of the accident scene.
Glancing at the metal plate now covering the hole, Elmore said,
"I can't imagine a vandal moving this. It's just too heavy and too large. Somebody's negligent...whether it's a private contractor or the City of Niagara Falls I'm really not sure, but in a couple of days we're going to get to the bottom of it."
Elmore said Johnson was a cook at the Top of the Falls Restaurant on Goat Island, and that he is survived by a wife and three children.
Click on the video player to watch our story from 2 on Your Side Reporter Dave McKinley and Photojournalist Norm Fisher.
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WGRZ-TV, wgrz.com