SAN ANTONIO – The findings of a state investigation into last December's death of a 65-year-old housekeeper at the Crockett Hotel have been released.
The attorney for the family of 65-year-old Gloria Rodriguez said late Thursday afternoon the chief elevator inspector with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation conducted the in-depth of investigation.
Jim Hada, who filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Crockett Hotel and the Otis Elevator Co., said the findings held "no surprises."
Rodriguez fell to her death six stories down an elevator shaft Dec. 28, 2011.
Lawrence Taylor, the state inspector who wrote the report, said although there were no witnesses, it appears that Rodriguez backed into a service elevator with her cart, as the doors opened, unaware the elevator had continued going up.
Read the full report here (PDF)
"This tragedy was preventable," Taylor wrote in his report.
Specifically, he said the hotel failed to have the elevator inspected as required, and maintenance was inadequate.
"If the conditions that led to this tragedy existed on the day the inspection was scheduled, the troubles could have been discovered and action taken," he wrote.
The report reveals the hotel had set up an inspection, but then postponed it at the request of the elevator company because of the upcoming holidays.
Taylor said the hotel tried to use jumpers as a failed attempt to fix the elevator brake.
However, Taylor said "the brake itself was not installed, adjusted and maintained as prescribed by the manufacturer."
"The hotel relied on Otis," Hada said.
The attorney also said after the state's elevator experts arrived on scene, "they quickly sized up what had happened."
A spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation said the agency's prosecutors are reviewing the findings, with the likelihood of possible fines.
Hada said an initial hearing on the family's lawsuit is set for November.
The hotel management did not respond to the report's findings, although it did cooperate fully with inspectors, according to the report.