Eight Indiana Departments Sued Over Ice Rescue Death

The parents of a teenager who drowned after falling through thin ice on Terrace Lake in Columbus, Indiana in December, 2010 have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against …. well… everyone: The State of Indiana, City of Columbus, County of Bartholomew, Columbus Regional Hospital Foundation, the Terrace Lake Lot Owners Association, and eight different police, fire, and water rescue departments.

The suit arose from an incident that occurred on December 21, 2010 when three teenaged boys were walking on the ice at about 6:30 p.m. They fell through the ice at a point about 200 feet from land. Two of the boys were rescued by an area resident who had a boat, but 16 year old Derek Lodestein, who was clinging to the side of the boat, was unable to hold on. His body was recovered at about 8:30 pm.

The suit alleges that the various fire and rescue departments failed to respond quickly enough, and that local responders were negligent for not having dive rescue capability locally. The Lodesteins’ allege that the departments “owed a duty to Derek Lodestein to respond in a timely and adequate manner” and were “negligent in the hiring, training, and retention of those members, officers, agents, and/or personnel involved in the negligent rescue and death”.

For more on the lawsuit.

For more on the incident itself.