Local News in Brief : 3 of 8 Hurt Released

Three of the eight people who were hospitalized last week when the steel ventilation gratings they were standing on atop a Redondo Beach parking garage collapsed, have been released from local hospitals.

Eight people were injured and one was killed during a party following the annual Super Bowl Sunday 10-K race held each year in the beach city. Most of them had run in the race.

An investigation into what caused the collapse of the gratings in the 4-year-old Pier Plaza Parking Garage is being conducted by city officials as well as the firms that built and designed the structure. Nine people, who were standing on the gratings, fell 22 feet to the bottom floor of the structure.

John LaFrano, 47, of Fullerton, who broke his arm and injured a leg, and Dennis Heitkamp, 34, of Redondo Beach, who suffered a fractured jaw, were released from hospitals Wednesday. Sharon Feldman, 31, was released last Sunday night after being treated for a concussion and multiple bruises.

Robert Arthur Bode, 36, of Tujunga, was killed.

The most seriously injured included Jim Chen, 40, of Palos Verdes Estates, and his wife, Jackie, 38. He is in serious condition at Harbor UCLA Medical Center. He suffered a cardiac contusion and other internal injuries in the fall and had part of his right lung surgically removed Sunday night, a hospital spokeswoman said. Jackie Chen suffered multiple trauma to her left arm and leg, and is in fair condition at Little Company of Mary Hospital.

Kevin and Cindy Adair, both 29, of Carlsbad, and Hector Gutierez, 36, of Inglewood, are in satisfactory condition at South Bay Hospital, whose a spokeswoman declined to list their injuries.

A member of the Adairs’ family said Kevin Adair broke his collarbone and suffered a collapsed lung in the fall, while Cindy Adair had compound fractures of both ankles and a fractured back.