The Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cleared “Transformers 3” officials of violating any of the agency’s rules in an accident that left a movie extra seriously injured, officials said Wednesday.
Officials said the accident was “unforeseeable,” and the movie’s production company would not face fines or citations.
“IOSHA investigators believe the accident occurred due to the failure of a weld connecting a car to a tow cable,” IOSHA spokesman Marc Lotter said in a statement. “The weld was made by a certified welder and all necessary safety precautions were in place, thus no citations or fines will be issued. This was an unfortunate and unforeseeable accident.”
The Sept. 1 accident left Gabriela Cedillo permanently brain damaged, paralyzed on her left side and with her left eye stitched shut, according to her attorney and a lawsuit filed last week against Paramount Pictures and metal distributor Ryerson Inc.
The suit alleges that, as part of a stunt, Cedillo was driving her blue Scion in Hammond, Ind., as flatbed trucks pulling stunt cars and going more than 50 mph approached on the opposite side of the road.
As Cedillo’s car neared, a metal bracket welded to one of the stunt cars broke loose, flew across the median, sliced the hood of Cedillo’s car, shattered her windshield and hit her in the head, said Todd Smith, Cedillo’s lawyer.
Smith calledthe Indiana agency’s conclusion “disappointing” and “ridiculous,” and said he believes the welding completed on the bracket was poor. He said he’s had an independent engineer and metallurgists investigate as well.
IOSHA “must not have looked very closely at the welds and the brackets,” Smith said. “The welds were poor at best.
“It’s really sad these kinds of conclusions are reached in such a slipshod way,” he said, adding that he will continue fighting Cedillo’s case in court.
Officials with Paramount Pictures did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but previously the studio said that “the production will continue to provide all the help we can to Gabriela and her family during this difficult time.”
bschlikerman@tribune.com
