Inspector kills self after deadly collapse

Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA

A veteran Philadelphia building inspector who apparently committed suicide had inspected the site of a deadly building collapse twice in February and an adjacent, related project in mid-May.

The June 5 collapse killed six people when a four- story building tumbled onto a small thrift shop. The demolition site consisted of three attached buildings.

City records show that Ronald Wagenhoffer inspected the site before work began Feb. 12 and again Feb. 25, after it got underway. He returned to the strip of attached storefronts May 14 after a citizen complained about the demolition being conducted at the building next door to the one that collapsed. Wagenhoffer found the complaint unfounded.

Mayor Michael Nutter called the death Wednesday of 52-year-old Wagenhoffer “astounding” and “painful.”

“We had six people who died in the building collapse, and now we’ve had another person perish because of this particular tragedy,” Nutter said in Chicago, where he was attending a conference Thursday. “This was just astounding to find this out.”

A demolition subcontractor, 42-year-old Sean Benschop, has been charged with six counts of involuntary manslaughter for purportedly being “impaired” by marijuana and painkillers while operating an excavator just before the crash. He also had his right hand in a cast, but his lawyer has said he was fit to work that day. The collapse was an accident, and Benschop was not responsible for it, his lawyer has said.