Family of Brothers Electrocuted in Fort Worth Park File Suit Against Oncor
The family of two young brothers electrocuted by a downed Oncor power line in a Fort Worth park have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the electric utility company.
Androvett Legal Media and Marketing reports on its website on the case:
On March 29, 2017, while exploring a heavily wooded section of Fort Worth’s Oakland Lake Park the day after a storm, Alex Lopez, 12, was electrocuted when he came into contact with an energized power line. Moments later, his brother, 11-year-old Isaiah, also was electrocuted when he raced to pull his brother to safety.
“Oakland Lake Park was a place Alex and Isaiah loved and felt safe to explore. It was never a place to fear,” said Dallas lawyer Jeffrey Rasansky, founder of Rasansky Law Firm, who represents Alex and Isaiah’s mother, Tammy Brooks. “But due to Oncor’s negligence and delay in cutting power to this live line, the park became the scene of horror, ending these young boys’ lives.”
According to the lawsuit, Oncor uses interactive smart technology that provides real-time notification of disruptions. Yet the company failed to address line problems in the park until after the tragedy. Even then, it took Oncor workers an hour to arrive on the scene to cut power so that emergency personnel could reach the Lopez brothers. Both boys died from extensive injuries resulting from high-voltage electric shock.
“As the owner and operator of Texas’ largest electric grid, Oncor has a responsibility to operate in a manner that protects all citizens,” said Houston lawyer Arturo Gonzalez of Arthur J. Gonzalez PC, who represents the boys’ father, grandmother and estate. “Not only did Oncor fail to secure the area and de-energize the downed line within a public park, the company also failed to warn the public.”
The lawsuit is Alejandro Luis Lopez, Tammy Brooks, and Ana Lopez as Personal Representative of the Estates of Jose Alexandro Luis Lopez and Isaiah Alexander Luis Lopez v. Oncor Electric Delivery Company, LLC, in Dallas County.