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Pool Firm Owner Faces Manslaughter Charge In Drowning

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The Associated Press

Published: July 21, 2008

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - A swimming pool company president was charged Monday with second-degree manslaughter in connection with the drowning of a 6-year-old boy whose arm was trapped by the suction of a powerful drain pump.

Shoreline Pools President David Lionetti was released on $25,000 bail. If convicted of the felony, he faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

Police in Greenwich said Lionetti, 53, of Stamford, "recklessly caused the death" of Zachary Cohn by failing to have his company install mandated safety devices in the pool the company built for the boy's family. Police say the safety devices would have prevented the boy's death.

Since 1985, more than 150 cases have been reported across the country of swimming pool drain entrapments, leading to at least 48 deaths and many serious injuries, including disembowelment, of children and adults, according to a lawsuit filed by Zachary's parents, Brian and Karen Cohn.

Lionetti plans to plead not guilty, said his attorney, Richard Meehan Jr. "To my knowledge, this is the first time an executive from a pool company has been prosecuted for homicide for claimed code violations in the installation of a pool," Meehan said.

Meehan declined to comment on the issue of safety devices, saying he had not seen the arrest affidavit.

Prosecutor David Cohen thinks there have been other criminal prosecutions involving pool safety issues but agreed that the prosecution is unusual. Asked whether he expects anyone else to be charged, he said, "Not at this point."

Police said Zachary Cohn drowned when his arm became stuck in an intake valve in the deep end of the family's in-ground pool on July 26. Water entering the intake valve is pumped through filters before being returned to the pool.

The family's lawsuit, filed in January, alleges the pool violated safety code requirements designed in response to the rash of similar cases.

"Nothing will bring our son back but we hope this prosecution will help prevent another horrific incident like this from happening to someone else," the parents say in a written statement released by their attorneys. "Those who knowingly violate pool safety codes designed to protect children should be held accountable for their actions."

Lionetti's arrest came three days after fire destroyed the company's Stamford warehouse. Thirteen police officers and four firefighters were treated for chemical exposure and other ailments. The cause of the fire, which also destroyed 38 trucks, had not yet been determined Monday.

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