The family of Lisa Zitello of Austintown, sons Dominic Zitello, 15, and Charles Martin, 20, and her husband Brent Zitello, stand on the courthouse steps during Thursday’s news conference about the lawsuit against the city of Warren over negligence in maintenance and warnings to boaters about a hazard near the low-head dam at the Summit Street bridge. Staff photo / Guy Vogrin

WARREN — The family of a critically injured kayaker on Thursday, as it promised, filed a lawsuit against Warren officials over a lack of adequate warning to boaters on the Mahoning River of a hazard downstream at the Summit Street low-head dam.

The husband and two sons of Lisa Zitello of Austintown assembled outside the Trumbull County Courthouse on Thursday afternoon to hold a news conference.

The lawsuit, filed in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court and assigned to Judge Peter J. Kontos, charges the city with gross negligence, reckless performance of a governmental function, negligent performance of a proprietary function, liability because the dam contained a hidden danger and of maintaining an “absolute nuisance.”

No dollar figure for relief was put on the claims, but the plaintiffs want the city to be declared liable and to pay compensatory damages “in an amount to determined” at trial.

An email asking for comment was sent Thursday to the Warren Law Department, but it was not answered. City Law Director Enzo Cantalamessa previously said he cannot comment on any pending litigation against the city.

The lawsuit was filed by the national law firm of Peiffer Wolf Carr Kane Conway and Wise, which has a Cleveland office, on behalf of Zitello’s husband, Brent, and her 20-year-old son, Charles M. Martin. The Zitello attorneys said they had been in contact with city officials before the filing, but the city had failed to act to satisfy their demands.

“The city failed to take reasonable precautionary measures to make the dam safe or warn of its dangers, causing a risk of foreseeable harm to boaters like Mrs. Zitello,” the lawsuit states.

STATUTE OF LIMITATION

Attorney Joseph Schiavoni, who attended Boardman High School with Lisa Zitello, said the family had to file the action because the two-year statute of limitation was about to run out. He said the plans are for the dam to be removed in a few years, “but that doesn’t help the Zitellos’ situation or present danger to other boaters.”

Zitello remains in a coma at an Austintown care facility after nearly drowning May 3, 2020, at the Summit Street dam. The lawsuit claims Warren fire Chief Ken Nussle had been quoted in a story calling the low-head dam a “drowning machine.”

According to Zitello’s attorney, Ashlie Case Sletvold, the city installed warning buoys in 2017 after a teen almost drowned after falling over the dam, but the bouys washed away before the 2020 incident involving Zitello.

RELAXING TRIP GOES WRONG

Brent Zitello said his wife planned the quick kayaking trip along the Mahoning River to relieve stress.

“Since we were two months into a nationwide pandemic, she needed it,” he said. Besides, he said, she was an experienced kayaker but had never gone down that part of the Mahoning River before.

“Lisa has not been back home since,” Brent Zitello said, noting it is the family’s goal to get her back home. “That day has forever changed the lives of not only her but myself, our sons and so many others.”

On that day, she entered the river at Burbank Park, intending to travel to Packard Park. The attorneys said she was unaware of the Summit Street dam’s existence or the danger it posed because there were no warning signs, lights, barriers or other indication that the river’s water trail ended at Packard Park.

The river current pulled the woman over the dam and her body became trapped in an underwater hydraulic current. The turbulence swirled around her and she was tossed face down floating toward the Summit Street bridge.

Fishermen Jon and Jacob Fowler helped retrieve her from the river, getting her ashore to be treated by emergency responders.

“As bystanders reported in 911 calls, Mrs. Zitello did not realize the dam was there until it was too late,” said Sletvold, who attended Austintown Fitch High School with Brent Zitello.

“The city had an obligation to warn people of this deadly hazard,” Sletvold said. “This is particularly true as Valley residents looked for outdoor activities in which they were urged by public officials to safely engage in during the COVID pandemic.”

Joseph Schiavoni, a former state senator who had worked with Valley mayors in trying to get the Mahoning River dams removed, said this tragedy never should have occurred.

“It’s unconscionable the city could be aware of such a deadly hazard but failed to protect its residents and visitors,” he said.

The Summit Street dam many decades ago generated hydro-electricity for an adjacent power plant, which has been demolished. The city remains responsible for maintaining the dam and ensuring it does not constitute a hazard, Schiavoni said.

SONS REACT

Charles “Mateo” Martin said he still is learning from his mother’s life lessons and wants to return the favor by standing up for her now.

“My mom helped me get through so much in my life. I never could have imagined that I would be helping her get through so much worse,” Martin said. “She taught me how to draw, how to cook, how to be a man and how to stay solid when things begin to fall apart. That specifically is a skill I’ve had to use immensely over the last two years.”

Younger brother Dominic Zitello, 15, said his mother is “the best you can ask for.”

“I just remember the last few moments before she walked out the door that day. That was a life-changing moment I will never forget. The memory of my father getting a call … still makes my stomach sick. Words cannot express how great a mother she is.”

Family members and the attorneys remembered Lisa Zitello as a “bubbly personality” who was creative and owned her own graphic-design business. She had been a world traveler, living in Alaska and backpacking through Europe.