National Briefing
A contractor was charged with manslaughter on allegations that he used worn, fraying safety straps that broke apart and caused a crane to crash down on a Manhattan neighborhood last March, killing seven people.
William Rapetti, 48, and his company, Rapetti Rigging Services Inc., were indicted on seven counts of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the collapse, in which a 19-story tower crane destroyed a town house as it smashed into a quiet neighborhood a few blocks from the United Nations.
Rapetti pleaded not guilty to the charges, which also included reckless endangerment and failure to pay taxes, and posted $75,000 bail.
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