- Zoe Garatziotis got stuck in the elevator door of an apartment building
- She had her hand on the door and was pulled into a space when the door opened.
- Family sued for wrist injury, but construction company blames them for accident
A five-year-old girl’s arm was sucked into a small gap between an elevator and the wall and was trapped there for three minutes.
Zoe Garatziotis suffered a cut on her wrist that required 20 stitches to close and now has a large, painful scar, and her family has filed a lawsuit.
The girl was spending a day at the pool at the 1450 Washington at Hudson Tea apartment complex in Hoboken, New Jersey, last July and going up to the seventh floor.
She had her hand on the elevator door when she arrived and when the door opened, she was dragged with it, to the horror of her mother Loni Garatziotis.
Zoe Garatziotis’s arm got caught in a small space between an elevator and the wall and was trapped there for three minutes.
Security footage showed Loni and her friend Nicole, who were there with Zoe’s brother and twin sister and two other children, struggling to get her arm out.
They tried hand sanitizer as a makeshift lubricant, but to no avail, and after three minutes they finally released her after smearing her arm with lotion a neighbor gave them.
Zoe required monthly hospital visits to treat the wound after the family returned to their home in Palm Beach, Florida.
His parents sued Taylor Management Company and Kone Elevators and Escalators for negligence on August 31, and both denied all liability.
The lawsuit seeks damages and wants the building and elevator manufacturer to add warning signs about what happened to Zoe.
Security footage showed Loni and her friend Nicole, who were there with Zoe’s brother and twin sister and two other children, struggling to get her arm out.
Zoe suffered a cut on her wrist that needed 20 stitches to close and now has a large, painful scar, and her family filed a lawsuit.
“If you look at where the door comes in, there is a very small space, a couple of sheets of paper can fit in it, that’s how it should have been, the space was too big,” said his lawyer Edward Capozzi. ABC 7.
Loni said Zoe was still struggling with the scar nine months later.
‘It’s quite sturdy, quite large and it’s something we deal with on a daily basis. “He wants to cover it up, he doesn’t feel good, he’s sensitive,” she said.
Taylor Management Company denied all responsibility and blamed Zoe and her mother for causing the accident.
“Any injuries or damages suffered by plaintiffs were caused solely by plaintiffs’ and/or co-defendants’ negligence, misconduct, or breach of duty or warranty,” he wrote in his response to the lawsuit.
Zoe with her twin sister and parents Loni and Theo Garatziotis
The filing argued that Loni was responsible for Zoe at the time and left her unattended and unsupervised.
‘Said minor was not paying attention and was too young and inexperienced to have good judgment and recognize the risk of injury, thus causing the alleged internal accident,’ he argued.
TMC argued that Loni was therefore “negligent and/or reckless” in supervising Zoe, who was “the direct and proximate cause of the accident and injuries.”
Kone also denied responsibility but made no other accusations.
The case was sent to mediation and is being processed in court.