CLEARWATER, Fla. — A recently married, 23-year-old man from Riverview has been identified as the construction worker whose body was buried in the rubble of Monday's parking garage stairwell collapse.
Clearwater Police Chief Dan Slaughter described Mitchel Klock, who owned his own welding service, as a hardworking person who was trying to care for his family.
“A good hardworking person who was doing a dangerous job and definitely our thoughts and prayers go out to his family," Slaughter said during a press conference Wednesday.
The police department says Klock's family is asking for privacy as they grieve and process their loss, especially during the holidays.
"He’s a hardworking guy just trying to care for his family and this is obviously going to strain them emotionally and maybe even financially," Slaughter added.
At this point, detectives say they are not calling the collapse a criminal investigation but have conducted interviews, started a death investigation and are looking holistically into documentation that's available about the structure.
RELATED: Construction worker's body recovered following Clearwater parking garage stairwell collapse
According to Slaughter, the stairwell collapse comes five months after the City of Clearwater first received a complaint about the parking garage and began an investigation.
Documents provided by police show that during the parking garage's inspection, various areas were found that "show signs of deterioration" and an "Unsafe Structure Report" was sent.
A reinspection was set for Aug. 26 where documents show a notice of violation was sent to the owners — Plymouth Plaza, LLC — informing them that they would need to obtain and provide an "engineering safety report" before proceeding.
Follow-up site visits were failed on Oct. 12 and Nov. 24 as the city's report reads a representative of the owner claimed they were awaiting a structural engineer and "waiting for their inspection as they are on the inspector's schedule."
The next site visit, according to documents, was set for January but then the stairwell collapsed, burying Klock underneath. A city employee noted they had visited the site on the day of the collapse and "was also told that a welding company had begun repairs, although we have not received the engineer's report yet and a permit has not been applied for.”
At this time, Slaughter says investigators are not sure who contracted Klock for his services but that the police department is looking into it.
A maintenance engineer who is familiar with the site said he reported concerns about the stability of the parking garage back in 2008. Michael Brookhart said he found a 15-foot crack in the concrete along the stairwell that has now collapsed.
"I expressed my concerns to the city, telling them that was a dangerous environment and that I felt like someone was eventually going to die in the parking garage,“ Brookhart said.
Not only did he raise concerns over a decade ago, but he doubled back once he saw the tragic Surfside condominium collapse in South Florida.
"I believe if my concerns were taken seriously this would’ve never happened," Brookhart said.
Brookhark said the damage he saw in 2008 was more than obvious.
"I was going around picking up chunks of concrete all throughout the parking garage," Brookhart said. "Anywhere from the size of a tennis ball to the size of a football."
The parking garage is now deemed uninhabitable, according to police, and will not be occupied moving forward. It is unclear if the structure will need to be demolished in the future or if repairs will suffice.
Emergency crews had been on scene for more than 48 hours after the collapse, using heavy equipment to assist in the recovery effort.
A giant excavator, and its skilled operators, could be seen removing football-sized pieces of debris. They started from the top of the parking structure and worked their way down, which Clearwater Fire & Rescue Division Chief John Klinefelter explained was the safest way to proceed.
Representatives from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration were also speaking with officials in the hours after the tragedy.
A spokesperson for Plymouth LLC, Zev Freidus, released a new statement on Wednesday in response to any prior knowledge of structure violations.
"We did not receive any communications or expressions of concern whatsoever from [the previous maintenance engineer] since our acquisition or for that matter, during our pre-purchase investigations."
10 Tampa Bay spoke to Greg Batista, PE; a structural engineer, who gave insight into what may have caused the stairwell to collapse.
“They are all welded together, the different precast panels," Batista said. "The welds are an area where, if they start to rust then the building could be susceptible to collapse.“
Bautista, who specializes in things like construction management, structural engineering and concrete restoration and repair, also adds that the investigation into the permits and inspections will be telling.
“I would say a large portion of these mishaps and collapses that happen are because of a lack of maintenance," Batista said.
The four-story structure on Enterprise Road is adjacent to an administrative building of the nonprofit Tampa Bay Water, which supplies wholesale drinking water to much of the region. None of the organization's employees were injured.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the construction workers and their families as emergency managers respond,” Tampa Bay Water General Manager Chuck Carden said Monday.