City of Boca Raton Faces Wrongful Death Lawsuit after Accidental Drowning During Boca Bash
It does not take much for the fun to get out of hand in South Florida, especially at festive outdoor events like Boca Bash, the city-wide boating party on the Intracoastal Waterway. If you are the kind of person who assesses the risk of accidents, you could probably see the potential for all sorts of injuries and worse. Some people attend Boca Bash just for the boats, while others go there just for the alcohol, but most attendees partake of both. Drunk driving is an obvious problem, as are the dangers inherent in drinking while boating. At the 2018 Boca Bash, however, a man died simply because the Intracoastal Waterway was too crowded, and his daughter’s mother has named the city of Boca Raton as a defendant in a wrongful death lawsuit.
Details of the Roselin Case
During Boca Bash in 2018, Francis Roselin, 32, was swimming in the Intracoastal Waterway. The water was so crowded with boats that he was unable to surface, and he drowned. His partner Tamekia Rich reported him missing, and his body was found in shallow water where it would have been impossible for Roselin, a strong swimmer, to drown if not for the congestion of boats in the water.
Rich filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Boca Raton. She alleges negligence on the city’s part for failing to control the crowds and to provide adequate supervision of the water. She is requesting $15,000 in damages, to be paid to Roselin’s estate, of which their 5-year-old daughter A’niylah is the beneficiary.
The Legal Issues
In filing a lawsuit against the city of Boca Raton, the plaintiff is alleging that the city of Boca Raton had a duty of care to prevent accidents at Boca Bash, such as the one that resulted in Roselin’s death. She is alleging that the city breached its duty of care by allowing the water to get so crowded that a swimmer literally did not have enough room to breathe. Her lawyer said that the city could have prevented the accident by restricting the number of attendees or by keeping a closer eye on the number and location of swimmers. Demonstrating this duty of care is one of the most challenging parts of this lawsuit. On the one hand, Boca Raton does take responsibility for providing police presence at the event in order to prevent accidents; in 2018, it assigned 38 officers to work at Boca Bash, costing the city $45,000 in policing costs for an event that lasted only one day. The city may present a defense, however, that the accident happened on the Intracoastal waterway, and therefore outside the jurisdiction of the Boca Raton police assigned to Boca Bash.
Contact Smith, Ball, Báez & Prather Injury Lawyers About Wrongful Death Cases
The surviving family members of accident victims can sometimes receive compensation from parties that could have prevented the accident. If a family member of yours has died in an accident, contact Palm Beach Gardens wrongful death lawyers at Smith, Ball, Báez & Prather Injury Lawyers for a consultation to see if you have grounds for a lawsuit.
