TRUMBULL COUNTY Boy's drowning death in '03 leads to a lawsuit by father

The suit is seeking more than $25,000 in damages.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The father of a 10-year-old boy who died in a sewer drain last summer has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city.
John Keytack of South Park Drive, Brookfield, filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court. The suit has been assigned to Judge W. Wyatt McKay.
Both Law Director Greg Hicks and Mayor Michael O'Brien declined to comment.
The suit, filed by Atty. Michael Scala, is seeking more than $25,000. The suit says Johnny Keytack drowned July 21, 2003, in a sewer drain that was under the care, control and maintenance of the city of Warren.
The city was negligent in the maintenance of the storm drain, the lawsuit states.
What happened
Moments after a heavy rain fell, Johnny was playing with neighborhood friends not far from his house on Bonnie Brae Avenue Northeast when he became trapped in a whirlpool swirling around a storm drain set in the bottom of a 3-foot ditch.
He was unconscious when firefighters freed him from the drain grating and was pronounced dead at Trumbull Memorial Hospital.
A few weeks after the boy drowned, the city announced plans to make improvements to the drain.
City officials said at the time that devices to try to reduce water runoff were to be installed. The cost was expected to be less than $1,000 and take two days to complete.
Although the work was designed to reduce the possibility of another drowning there, officials acknowledges that there are 60 miles of open ditches in the city. They can only be fixed by street improvements.
Some cities assess property owners to fix streets with paving, curbs and drains to eliminate ditches, city officials said.
sinkovich@vindy.com