Worker’s Death Sparks Beating of Crane Operator

In a bizarre and grisly incident Tuesday, a construction worker was crushed by a 10-ton steel beam that fell from a crane hoist and then the crane operator was attacked and severely beaten by two other workers, authorities said.

Wayne Cvitkovich, 42, was killed instantly when the 35-foot-long beam fell 20 feet as the crane operator was moving the beam into place as part of a construction project at the Fashion Valley shopping complex in San Diego’s Mission Valley. Cvitkovich was among the ground crew guiding the beam.

Just moments after the beam fell, crane operator Dwight Bennett, 49, was attacked by two workers who apparently blamed him for Cvitkovich’s death, police said. Bennett, who was still in the crane’s cab, suffered a broken nose and facial cuts and bruises.

“He was beaten pretty severely,” said police spokesman Bill Robinson, who added that Bennett, who was taken to a hospital emergency room after the 6:05 a.m. incident, may need reconstructive facial surgery.

When television crews rushed to the scene, a construction worker tried to attack a cameraman and had to be restrained by a firefighter, authorities said.

Work on the project, scheduled to be completed next year, was immediately halted while California Division of Occupational Safety and Health inspectors and police homicide detectives combed the accident site.

The names of the two workers who allegedly beat Bennett are known to police, but they were not immediately arrested, pending further investigation. “Obviously they were traumatized by the incident,” said Police Lt. Glenn Breitenstein.

The project is adding a second story to the Fashion Valley mall. Work has been going on during nighttime and early morning hours to avoid disturbing shoppers.

Cal/OSHA spokesman Rick Rice said investigators want to determine whether the death was the product of operator error, equipment malfunction or some other cause. The beam was still attached to the cable when it crashed to the ground.

The account of the crane operator is crucial to reconstructing the events that led the beam to drop suddenly, Rice said.

Cvitkovich was employed by Schuff Steel Co. of San Diego.

Tuesday’s deadly incident is the third crane incident in the last year in San Diego.

In September, a crane lifting a metal column toppled onto California 163 and seriously injured a motorist. The crane was part of a project to extend the San Diego Trolley from Old Town to San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. Cal/OSHA cited the crane company for overloading the crane and assessed a $5,275 fine.

In March, a crane being used as part of an expansion project at Lindbergh Field also toppled, injuring a worker.