Zoe Garatziotis lawsuit: 5 year old girl nearly has armed sucked off by Hoboken elevator as her family now file a lawsuit against building management and an elevator operating company alleging negligence as her mom, Loni says her daughter is left with giant scar and ongoing medical treatment.
The parents of a 5 year old girl who got her arm stuck in an elevator door and nearly sucked off have filed a lawsuit against a Hoboken, New Jersey building management company.
Zoe Garatziotis is seen in surveillance video (see below) putting her hand on the door when the elevator finally arrives only to suddenly have her entire arm suddenly sucked into the space between the door and the elevator wall, dragging the girl against the door and imperilling her as her mother and another adult frantically struggle to set the child free.
Frantic 3 minutes
Frantic and heart-stopping moments passed before the young girl’s arm was freed three minutes later, leaving Zoe in need of several stitches.
The incident according to ABC7NY happened in July when Loni Garatziotis and her three children made a trip from their home in Florida to their former address in Hoboken.
The group of parents took their five kids to 1450 Washington at Hudson Tea, an apartment building nearby, for an afternoon swim.
When they reached the seventh floor, the elevator door opened, but Zoe’s arm slipped and got trapped between the elevator door.
‘Me and my friend Jen grabbed the elevator so it wouldn’t pull her in more and my friend Nicole was in there with her trying to figure out how to get her arm out,’ Loni told the outlet.
For over three minutes, the 5-year-old was stuck while her mom pulled at the door. A friend grabbed hand sanitizer out of her purse and started spreading it on Zoe’s arm but it didn’t work.
‘She wants to cover it, it doesn’t feel good, it’s sensitive.’
A neighbor then handed them a bottle of lotion.
‘She put it on her arm and then she opened it and she pulled her arm free luckily,’ Loni said.
Police and EMTs eventually got there to take Zoe to the hospital where she received 20 stiches on her wrist.
Upon returning to Florida, the family made the trek to hospital once a week for three months for the girl’s wound. Nine months going on, Zoe is now left with a large scar along with psychological scars.
‘It’s pretty rugged, it’s pretty big and it’s something that we deal with on a daily basis,’ the girl’s mom said. ‘She wants to cover it, it doesn’t feel good, it’s sensitive.’
The family has since filed a lawsuit against the building’s owner, Taylor Management Company, (TMC) and Kone Elevators and Escalators for negligence.
‘If you look at where the door goes in, it’s a really small gap, it can fit a couple pieces of paper, that’s how it should have been, the gap was too big,’ said attorney Edward Capozzi.
Taylor Management Company denied liability and blamed Zoe and her mother for causing the accident.
‘Any injury or damages sustained by the plaintiffs were caused by the sole negligence, wrongdoing or breach of duty or warranty of plaintiffs and/or co-defendants,’ it wrote in its answer to the complaint.
The filing argued 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 injuring herself, thus causing the within alleged accident,’ it argued.
TMC argued Loni was therefore ‘negligent and/or reckless’ in supervising Zoe, which was ‘direct and proximate cause of the accident and injuries’.
Kone also denied responsibility but didn’t make any other accusations.
The operator of the elevator has since released the following statement:
KONE does not comment on pending litigation, but we are aware of an incident… We regretted hearing about the incident when we received a lawsuit, and our thoughts go out to the injured individual. Safety is an integral part of who we are and what we do at KONE. We remain steadfast in our commitment to moving people safely every day.
Capozzi said the family is looking for compensation but they are hoping more companies, including the elevator operator, add warning signage to the elevator to prevent what happened to Zoe from happening to anyone else.
Zoe’s family are now having more conversations with the girl, who is now 6, to help her feel more confident about her scar in an incident which could’ve been much more life altering and deadly.
The case which has failed to be mediated is now heading to the courts.
