The family of Chloe Wiegand, a toddler who fatally plunged 50 feet to her death from an 11th-floor window of Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas cruise ship, is trying to sanction the cruise line.
The family alleges “corruption” of video footage of the incident requested by plaintiffs and the US Coast Guard.
A series of motions filed this week allege that Royal Caribbean has “knowingly and deliberately destroyed critical camera footage of the time leading up to the incident,” which was “fatal” to the defense and which devastated Chloe’s grandfather, Salvatore Anello, a resident of Indiana, would have been acquitted.
The filing alleges that the “clear intention of the cruise line to deprive claimants of this critical information” justifies “imposing the most severe sanctions, including the introduction of a default judgment against Royal Caribbean.”
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On board the incident, Anello can be seen sitting alone on the deck with Chloe, who leads him to the glass walls of the ships. Anello is then seen lifting the toddler and sitting on a wooden handrail before suddenly falling over and disappearing from view after banging on the glass.
“All I know is that I was trying to reach the glass and I know we leaned over to try and get her to reach the glass, that’s when she slipped,” Anello told CBS News in an interview. thing ever so I’m like, whatever, you know? There is nothing worse they can do to me than what has already happened. “
Anello, 51, pleaded guilty to negligence murder in connection with Chloe’s death in October and was sentenced to three years probation by a judge in San Juan on Monday.
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The family states in the new filing that the incident was preventable because Royal Caribbean knew that the pool deck windows were a “fall hazard to small children,” that passengers “were sitting, standing and climbing on, over and over railings,” “that parents” placed children on the railings and next to open windows “and that, even without being placed by adults,” children could still get to the windows by climbing on the furniture next to the railings. “
“All of this was known because Royal Caribbean’s Guest Conduct policy and crew members warned passengers of these dangers, and there were numerous incidents related to these dangerous conditions, including the near-fall incident of a child just two years before Chloe’s death” , said the petitioner. However, Royal Caribbean chose to ignore those previous incidents and known dangers, and as a result this tragedy took place. In the aftermath of this tragedy, Royal Caribbean’s strategy has become clear.
Among the evidence included in the new documents is a statement from the boat’s former chief safety officer, Elton Koopman, who said he had “personally witnessed repeated falls involving the pool deck windows.”
Koopman noted that he “attended numerous security meetings where such fall hazards were discussed, and he contributed to the effort to mitigate the hazard by keeping windows closed and warning passengers.”
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According to the filing, both the Wiegand family and the Coast Guard made requests for closed-circuit television footage around the time of the incident to determine who opened the windows and why, and whether it was a crew member who should have been aware of Koopmans warnings.
However, the filing alleges that Captain Frank Martinsen of Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas “ ignored the Coast Guard’s question of whether there was CCTV showing who opened the window, ” as well as the “ request to provide them with CCTV footage of the windows. opened. “
The filing adds that the Freedom of the Seas has at least one camera that would have clearly shown who opened and closed the windows, but that Royal Caribbean “just did not want this information to come to light.”
“Instead, Royal Caribbean looked at the requested footage, unilaterally determined that it was irrelevant, and only saved the 30 minutes of footage prior to the incident from the two cameras that captured the incident,” the filing continues. “Subsequently, Royal Caribbean deliberately and intentionally destroyed the remaining camera images.”
The filing also states that Royal Caribbean admitted to receiving letters requesting CCTV footage, but that it offers “no reasonable explanation” for not retaining the footage.
“It is clear that this critical evidence has been destroyed in bad faith. The CCTV has been destroyed because it was fatal to the defense of Royal Caribbean and allegedly acquitted Mr. Anello,” the filing continues. The video probably shows a crew member opening the window, creating the condition that led to Chloe’s death. This is not a story that Royal Caribbean would allow.
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The Wiegand family’s lawyer, Michael Winkleman, said in a statement that they were “ pleased that the criminal proceedings were over and resulted in no jail time and no acknowledgment of facts for Chloe’s grandfather ” and that there was “ no evidence whatsoever to support it. argument that Salvatore Anello knew the window was open. “
“Instead, the evidence is clear that Mr Anello made an honest mistake, but because Royal Caribbean has not taken steps to protect the youngest passengers, it has turned into a fatal tragedy,” Winkleman said.
A Royal Caribbean spokesperson did not immediately respond to FOX News’ request for comment.
A trial for the case will begin on April 26.