Attorney States That Flag Pole That Killed Girl Was In Poor Condition
A steel flagpole that broke and killed kindergartner Angel Pocock-Smith, 5, last year at Roosevelt Primary School was erected in 1921, rusted and obviously defective, says an attorney for the girl’s mother.
“This deterioration of the flagpole didn’t happen overnight,” said Robert Darling, an attorney representing the girl’s mother, Angela Smith-Johnson, in a wrongful death lawsuit against the Ferndale School District. “The pole had been painted and the rust marks showed through and showed the deterioration. It was a defective flagpole and (the school district) had sufficient knowledge and time to fix it.”
The girl’s mother declined to comment when contacted Tuesday.
The lawsuit seeks at least $25,000 for pain and suffering by Pocock-Smith’s surviving family members.
The flagpole had a lighting fixture attached to it that collected water for years and caused the pole to rust and corrode in that area, Darling said.
Though the steel of the flagpole was a quarter-inch thick, corrosion reduced the thickness in the area where it broke to less than 1 percent of its original thickness, according to the lawsuit.
“The school district needs to be held responsible for this little girl’s death,” Darling said. “That’s the way to prevent something like this from happening again.”
Angel Pocock-Smith of Oak Park was killed April 16, 2007, when the flag pole broke and hit her in the head as she played with schoolmates in a courtyard at the school at 2610 Pinecrest. The 40-foot pole snapped about 10 feet up from the ground and the girl died of massive head injuries. She was pronounced dead on arrival at William Beaumont Hospital.
The rust on the pole where it broke was noticed by police who responded to the scene and investigated the death, which was ruled accidental.
School Principal Dina Krause heard the flagpole snap from inside her office and ran into the courtyard, where she stayed with Pocock-Smith until emergency workers arrived.
“She was a precious little girl,” Krause said at the time. “She was kind of quiet and a good student … she got along well with the other students.”
Family members of the girl at the time described her as a brave child who liked Barbie dolls and butterflies and took karate lessons.
Grief counselors spoke with students and staff at the school following Angel’s death.
When reached Tuesday, Stephanie Hall, a spokeswoman for the school district, wouldn’t comment on the allegations in the lawsuit, which was filed earlier this month before Oakland County Circuit Judge Edward Sosnik.
“Our feelings in the school district about this accident haven’t changed since the day it happened,” Hall said. “We lost a student and we grieved as a community and individually when Angel died.”