No charges in Kelowna crane collapse one year after recommendation

No crane charges yet

Photo: Colin Dacre

It's been nearly four years since the crane at the Brooklyn tower collapsed in downtown Kelowna killing five people, one of the worst tragedies the city has seen.

It’s been more than a year since police recommended a charge of criminal negligence causing death relating to the 2021 crane collapse that killed five people in Kelowna and, as of yet, it hasn't happened.

“I can confirm the BC Prosecution Service has received a Report to Crown Counsel and a charge assessment is underway,” a representative of the BC Prosecution Service said in an email last week, roughly 13 months after the recommendation was made.

“I do not have an estimated timeline I can share, but complex investigations such as this can take some time to review,”

For the mother of one of the men killed in the crane collapse, the wait has been excruciating.

“I was forewarned that it could take years, which is upsetting honestly,” said Danielle Pritchett, mother to Cailen Vilness.

“It’s hard for our family to get closure without knowing what’s going on.”

She is glad the RCMP recommended charges because “somebody has to be found responsible for the five lives that were lost.” Who they're looking at charging, however, remains unknown.

Pritchett said she knows as little as the general public and it feels like closure is far off.

“We’re going on four years and, on a personal level, I don’t even have a copy of the report that said what happened,” she said.

“It’s tied up. I can’t get a copy until it goes to court. That’s frustrating as well— it’s a big open gaping wound.”

She’s hoping that in July, when the four year anniversary of the fatal accident arrives, BC Prosecution will have something for the families of those who died that day.

The morning of July 12, 2021, at a Mission Group construction site in the downtown core of Kelowna, a crane that was being dismantled crashed to the ground and killed onsite workers Cailen Vilness, Jared Zook, and Patrick and Eric Stemmer. Brad Zawislak, who was working in the building next door, was also killed.

WorkSafeBC completed its investigation into the crane collapse in May 2023 and has said it will not be releasing its incident investigation report so as to not affect the charge assessment process.