May 16--A Chicago building owner pleaded guilty to contempt of court and was sentenced Thursday to six months in Cook County Jail for failing to make court-ordered repairs to the abandoned structure before it collapsed in a fire, killing two Chicago firefighters in late 2010.
At the time of the charges, an attorney for Chuck Dai had been critical of the unusual criminal prosecution, but on Thursday, the attorney, Gene Murphy, said Dai pleaded guilty in part to spare the families of those killed and injured in the fire from sitting through a trial.
"Hopefully, this provides a bit of closure, so everyone can move on," Murphy said.
Edward Stringer, 47, and Corey Ankum, 34 were killed and 19 other firefighters were injured when the rotting truss roof of the former South Side laundry collapsed three days before Christmas.
Criminal Court Judge James Obbish also ordered that Dai, 65, of South Holland, pay $5,229 in fines.
Civil lawsuits brought against Dai and others by relatives of Stringer and Ankum are still pending in Cook County Circuit Court.
In a statement issued after Dai's guilty plea, State's Attorney Anita Alvarez acknowledged that administrative sanctions would typically be sought for failing to comply with building codes but that the deaths of the two firefighters warranted criminal penalties.
"Building owners have a legal and a civic responsibility to maintain their properties in our neighborhoods in a safe and responsible manner, and this case represents our commitment to holding building owners accountable," Alvarez said.
In 2007 city building inspectors had issued 14 citations against the vacant building at 1738-1744 E. 75th St., pointing out that the roof leaked and its trusses were in disrepair. Over the next year Dai failed to show up for numerous court dates, racking up fines of $14,000 for not fixing the problems, prosecutors said.
With city attorneys cracking down in 2009, Dai had sought to reduce his fines by signing a court order to make the required repairs by November 2010, but prosecutors said he never completed the improvements.
Records show city building inspectors had not yet followed up to make sure the repairs had been made before the fatal fire.
Following the fire, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health faulted the Fire Department for poor communications -- not all the firefighters had radios -- as a contributing factor in the deaths of the two firefighters. The city's Building Department was also cited for not flagging the building as hazardous.
As part of the changes instituted following the fire, the city began marking hazardous abandoned buildings with a red "X," and the Fire Department no longer sends firefighters into abandoned buildings without evidence that someone is inside.
Firefighters had entered the abandoned building in search of homeless squatters. Officials determined a trash fire was the cause of the blaze.
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