The Region - News from Dec. 21, 1986

Criminal charges were filed against two construction companies linked to the deaths of three ironworkers who were killed last year at a high-rise building site in downtown Los Angeles, City Atty. James K. Hahn said. Named as defendants were Swinerton & Walberg Co., the John F. Beasley Construction Co. and two of their employees. In the Dec. 18, 1985, accident at 1000 Wilshire Boulevard, the three construction workers plunged 11 floors to their deaths after the floor on which they were working collapsed when it was overloaded with steel beams, Hahn said. A fourth person was seriously injured. Swinerton & Walberg was the general contractor for the office building project, while Beasley Construction was the subcontractor responsible for erecting the steel superstructure for the 21-story development, Hahn said. The defendants were charged with violations of the state Labor Code.