The attorney for the crane rigger accused of causing the deadly 2008 crane collapse in Manhattan said that “incompetence at the highest levels of city government” caused the accident, which killed seven people, rather than the “recklessness” prosecutors alleged against his client, William Rapetti.
Rapetti was the master rigger of a 200-ft-high tower crane at the high-rise apartment construction site in Manhattan. The crane was in the process of being “jumped” or extended from the building's 18th floor when it collapsed, killing the crane operator, five members of the rigging crew and a building resident. Rapetti was licensed by the city's Buildings Dept. to supervise crane jumps and was a member of Local 14 of the operating engineers' union.