Father files suit over son’s fall from bridge
A Washington County man filed a wrongful death suit recently in Allegheny County Court in connection with his son’s death three months ago after a fall from a railroad bridge spanning Chartiers Creek.
The son, Shawn Paul McLaughlin, fell through the metal grate of the bridge in Collier Township.
He died Sept. 15 at UPMC-Presbyterian hospital, Oakland, nine days after he fell 30 feet onto rocks below the bridge.
Ralph McLaughlin of Mt. Pleasant Township, the victim’s father, filed the complaint against Pittsburgh and Ohio Central Railroad Co., Ohio Central Railroad and Genesee and Wyoming Inc.
The father claims the metal grate had been missing from the bridge since the summer of 2012 and that his son was not the first person to fall into the hole. The complaint alleges those responsible for maintaining the bridge should have known it posed a safety hazard, according to a news release prepared by his law firm.