A real estate agent who suffered a brain injury when he fell from a stairwell structure at the summit of the Sunset Vine Tower was looking at the famous hillside Hollywood sign in the distance just before his tumble, a member of the building’s property management team told a jury Tuesday.
Eric Click, a business manager for Alliance Residential Co. LLC, also said the plaintiff, Eddie Arnez, may have glanced at his cell phone before the fall, which occurred shortly after he used the device to record views from an elevated rooftop walkway of the residential building.
Arnez, then 42, alleges in his Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit brought in July 2018 that he suffered permanent injuries and a sharp curtailment of his vibrant career in upscale real estate due to the negligence of employees of Alliance as well as those of the building’s owner, Instrata Sunset Vine Tower. He maintains he should not have been allowed on the rooftop of a 20-story building, both because of his inexperience walking in such a place and due to the lack of guardrails at the point where he fell on May 4, 2018.
Defense attorneys maintain Arnez was inattentive and tripped on vents protruding from the roof of the stairwell structure as he prepared to climb 12 1/2 feet down a ladder to the main surface. Arnez was there that day to help the Sunset Vine Tower market its apartments and lofts.
Click’s testimony was presented partially in person and the rest through a video of his May 2019 deposition. He said the skies were so clear that day that while on the walkway they could see not only the Hollywood sign, but also downtown Los Angeles.
“It was really an amazing view,” Click said.
After a very brief time on the walkway, Arnez climbed down to the top of the stairwell structure first, then walked over to the second ladder to begin his descent when he lost his grip, falling roughly 12 feet onto the building’s roof, Click said.
“It seemed it was more of a step than a fall,” Click said, adding that he hurried down the ladder and saw that Arnez was unconscious and partially lying on one side.
“I was yelling his name,” Click said.
A real estate agent who suffered a brain injury when he fell from a stairwell structure at the summit of the Sunset Vine Tower was looking at the famous hillside Hollywood sign in the distance just before his tumble, a member of the building’s property management team told a jury Tuesday.
Eric Click, a business manager for Alliance Residential Co. LLC, also said the plaintiff, Eddie Arnez, may have glanced at his cell phone before the fall, which occurred shortly after he used the device to record views from an elevated rooftop walkway of the residential building.
Arnez, then 42, alleges in his Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit brought in July 2018 that he suffered permanent injuries and a sharp curtailment of his vibrant career in upscale real estate due to the negligence of employees of Alliance as well as those of the building’s owner, Instrata Sunset Vine Tower. He maintains he should not have been allowed on the rooftop of a 20-story building, both because of his inexperience walking in such a place and due to the lack of guardrails at the point where he fell on May 4, 2018.
Defense attorneys maintain Arnez was inattentive and tripped on vents protruding from the roof of the stairwell structure as he prepared to climb 12 1/2 feet down a ladder to the main surface. Arnez was there that day to help the Sunset Vine Tower market its apartments and lofts.
Click’s testimony was presented partially in person and the rest through a video of his May 2019 deposition. He said the skies were so clear that day that while on the walkway they could see not only the Hollywood sign, but also downtown Los Angeles.
“It was really an amazing view,” Click said.
After a very brief time on the walkway, Arnez climbed down to the top of the stairwell structure first, then walked over to the second ladder to begin his descent when he lost his grip, falling roughly 12 feet onto the building’s roof, Click said.
“It seemed it was more of a step than a fall,” Click said, adding that he hurried down the ladder and saw that Arnez was unconscious and partially lying on one side.
“I was yelling his name,” Click said.
Click further testified that he told his colleagues to call an ambulance. In the aftermath, Click said, he was reprimanded and told by a supervisor that the incident was to be a “learning lesson” and that no one should be allowed on the roof in the future so no one else would get hurt.
Cross-examined by Arnez’s attorney, Deborah S. Chang, Click acknowledged that taking good photos of the surrounding area from the point where the plaintiff was hurt was not very feasible because of obstructions on the rooftop. Chang, who denies Arnez was taking photos when her client was hurt, showed jurors a video slide of where the accident occurred and how only a handful of the Hollywood sign letters are visible.
