Posted on 06/29/2008 6:56:17 PM PDT by Graybeard58
CABRINI-GREEN | Mom watches as gate crushes 3-year-old son
At 3 years old, Curtis Cooper thought himself invincible.
He'd fashion a towel into a cape, and called himself Super Curtis.
But mom Pamela Cooper knew he wasn't invincible. So despite her family ribbing her about being overprotective, she never let the boy play outside without her.
Until Friday, when she let her son ride his tricycle outside his Cabrini-Green row home alone, she said.
As the 22-year-old mother watched from a window, a gate weighing hundreds of pounds broke from its hinge, fell atop the boy and killed him, Cooper's family said.
"So much stuff happens [in the development] . . . ," Cooper said Saturday, her thoughts trailing off.
As officials tried a day later to piece together the chain of events leading to Friday's tragedy in the Near North Side public housing development, condolences streamed in from all corners.
Speaking at an unrelated event Saturday, Mayor Daley promised an investigation of the incident.
"I don't have all the facts," he said. "Accidents do take place, in and around construction, and we'll find out . . . what happened."
Chicago Housing Authority spokesman Derek Hill said the agency is sifting through accounts of how the gate came to crush little Curtis as he rode his trike in the back of the home in the 900 block of North Cambridge.
The property, currently under renovation, is managed by the clout-heavy Urban Property Advisors (UPA).
"[CHA's CEO] Lewis Jordan and the CHA give our deepest sympathy to the family," Hill said. "We're waiting for the results of the investigation."
The Cooper family has retained retired Circuit Court Judge Llwellyn L. Thapedi and her son Andre Thapedi to represent them.
One witness said Friday she heard a noise that she believed may have been the 7-foot-tall iron gate's hinge breaking, before it fell atop the toddler.
"He wasn't out there for five minutes," said his grandmother, Velma Wade. "We figured the back was safer than the front."
The gate was one of many placed on both sides of communal backyard areas shared by the row homes. On Friday, some were chained to their sideposts because the hinges were broken. A witness said the one that fell was not chained, but that the bottom hinge was not connected.
"The gate's been like that," Curtis' aunt, Lisa Springfield, said. "You can see the parts rusted."
On Friday, a UPA regional manager said all of the gates that were not sturdy would be removed. And Saturday, authorities were out taking some down.
I guess I am about to earn my “asshat” label . . .
Now that Mayor Daley has heard about this, I am waiting for his Gates legislation to be passed:
* Must apply for a Gate Owner’s ID card.
* Limit of 1 Gate a month.
* 10 day “Cooling off” waiting period on all new Gate purchases.
* NO “Straw Purchases” of Gates
* Must pass a background check to purchase a Gate.
* Total ban on Gates smaller than 30 inches.
* Gates must not be concealed
* NO “automatic” opening / closing Gates allowed unless a LEO
* None of these apply to Judges, Chicago Aldermen, or to anyone in the Daley clan
After all, it’s for the Children!
***crickets***
I don’t understand, what is Cabrini Green? It sounds pretty.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabrini-Green
In the past, firefighters and ambulance drivers have refused to go into CG w/o police escort.
Wardaddy, I usually agree with you but I think this situation is a bit different. The boy yesterday was a young man of 17. He climbed over two 6’ fences into a restricted area. The little three year old kid wasn’t doing that.
Good to see you here by the way.
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