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Jet Set Nightclub owner Antonio Espaillat and manager Maribel Espaillat were both arrested last Thursday, June 12, and charged with involuntary homicide for their involvement in the nightclub’s roof collapse, the New York Times reported. The arrests came after a former employee presented evidence that Antonio had been warned of structural risks prior to the deadly event on April 8th.
The collapse occurred during a show that marked the Dominican Republic nightclub’s 50th anniversary, celebrating the iconic venue that was known for live music and high-profile patrons. 236 people were killed, including merengue singer Rubby Pérez, the night’s performer, Dominican governor Nelsy Cruz, and former Major League Baseball players Octavio Dotel and Tony Enrique Blanco Cabrera. Another 180 people were injured.
Two weeks after the event, Antonio appeared on local TV and insisted that while the ceiling often underwent maintenance due to water leakage, there was no indication that the roof was in such poor condition. His interview was soon contradicted by statements from both a former employee and The Dominican Republic’s Attorney General’s Office.
According to the Times, the former employee gave investigators his phone, which contained evidence that Mr. Espaillat knew the event was a risk. The employee “expressed his fears and apprehensions, and his suggestion that the event be suspended,” his lawyer, Plinio Pina, told reporters. “And that was ignored.”
In a statement released after the arrests last Thursday, the attorney general’s office said that the Espaillat siblings were charged with involuntary homicide and claimed that they “demonstrated immense irresponsibility and negligence by failing to do what was necessary to ensure that the Jet Set Club’s roof was adequately and expertly repaired.” The office also alleged that the Espaillats attempted to “manipulate or intimidate” employees who witnessed the event.
The exact cause of the collapse is still being investigated. Some suspect that because the building was originally a movie theater, it wasn’t properly equipped to handle the stress of rowdy events; others point to the vibrations created by the club’s speakers and the heavy equipment stored on the roof, per the Times. A preliminary report attributed the roof’s failure to a chain collapse caused by layers of cement and excessive weight, according to Dominican Today, but the official engineering reports have not yet been released.
