Chief dropped from Wisconsin wrongful death suit
WOODSTOCK - A Wisconsin wrongful-death lawsuit involving a McHenry father and son who drowned in McCullom Lake can go to go to trial after a judge dismissed claims over lake maintenance and the against the village’s police chief.
The San Juan family alleges the village did not properly mark the wading and swimming area off the village’s beach, where Jesus San Juan drowned in June 2001 trying to save his 9-year-old son, Sabas.
They also claim that McHenry dispatchers waited too long to send help. A rescue crew was at nearby Petersen Park but dispatchers waited 3 minutes and 24 seconds to send help because they did not know where in the lake the two were, San Juan family attorney Sean Burke said.
“The San Juans were still above water when these [two 911] calls were made,” Burke said.
The lawsuit no longer involves McCullom Lake Police Chief Anthony LoPorchio, who allegedly did not go into the water to help the struggling pair. A judge removed claims against LoPorchio Wednesday, because the chief did not have a legal responsibility to rescue them.