Penn. Building Collapse Was `Like an Earthquake`

June 11--FELICIA HILL had heard it for weeks, the jarring sound of bricks slamming onto the roof of the Salvation Army thrift shop.

She and her co-workers at the narrow store, at 22nd and Market streets, talked about being able to feel the impact as chunks from the skeleton of the neighboring four-story property plummeted to the ground during an ongoing demolition.

Hill, a mother of seven, once again heard the bricks pounding on the shop's roof on June 5 -- but this time, the sound was a harbinger of doom.

"When I heard the bricks falling from the ceiling, I felt this shaking, like an earthquake," Hill, 36, said yesterday, as she tried to choke back tears.

"And then I heard a gust of wind come in, and I seen just the wall fall, and the dust cloud that fell . . . and I started running for my life, and the only thing I could think about was my children."

Hill managed to escape with bumps and bruises from the horrific building collapse that claimed the lives of six people and injured 13 others.

Attorneys Robert Mongeluzzi and Emmett Madden filed a civil lawsuit yesterday on Hill's behalf against Richard Basciano and STB Investments Corp., the owners of the collapsed 2136-38 Market Street; Griffin T. Campbell, whose construction firm was tasked with tearing down the property; Sean Benschop, the operator of the excavator; and his subcontractor company, S&R Contracting. Hill's is the fifth lawsuit filed since the collapse, with more expected.

Benschop, 42, surrendered to police over the weekend and was charged with six counts of involuntary manslaughter and related offenses. Authorities have said he had marijuana in his system on the day of the fatal collapse.

Mark McDonald, Mayor Nutter's spokesman, said Benschop -- who is listed as a licensed contractor on the Department of Licenses and Inspection's website -- completed three demolitions for the city this year for $32,000.

He has two other demolition projects, valued at $42,000, that have not yet been completed. As part of the process to bid for the demolition permits, Benschop said that he'd done more than 35 demolitions before late 2011, McDonald said.

Campbell, 49, has not been charged with any crimes, but Philadelphia police yesterday executed a search warrant on his Nicetown home, said police spokesman Lt. John Stanford.

The District Attorney's Office also said it would convene a grand jury to investigate whether anyone else should be charged.

Campbell's attorney, Kenneth Edelin, said in a statement that Campbell had no reason to suspect that Benschop had been impaired, and hadn't ordered anyone to use the excavator for any task other than removing debris.

"I am confident that when all of the facts are known, Mr. Campbell will not be deemed responsible for the tragedy that happened," Edelin said.

Hill, of North Philly, who's worked at the Center City Salvation Army shop full time for the past eight months, said she glimpsed co-worker Kimberly Finnegan near the front of the store moments before the tragedy unfolded.

"I had looked at her," Hill said, "and then the wall came down, and I didn't see her anymore."

Finnegan, 35, who'd recently gotten engaged to Bob Coleman, the son of Common Pleas Judge Robert P. Coleman, died in the collapse.

Battling a driving rain, dozens of somber-faced people stood in line under umbrellas outside the Koller Funeral Home on Ridge Avenue in Roxborough last night to pay respects to Finnegan's family.

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