Mechanic Indicted for Criminally Negligent Homicide in Fatal Elevator Plunge in Bronx Building

Adam Devine

BRONX, NY – Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark recently announced that a mechanic, Peter Milatz, 67, of Orange County, New York, has been charged with criminally negligent homicide for allegedly failing to implement critical safety features, which led to an elevator collapse that killed his co-worker.

On February 18, 2021, the victim, Joseph Rosa, 25, an apprentice mechanic, was working with Milatz to upgrade an elevator inside a six-story building located on 133rd Street East Clarke Place. Milatz allegedly failed to comply with multiple safety protocols, resulting in the elevator car plunging six stories and crushing Rosa.

The indictment states that Milatz instructed Rosa to go to the bottom of the shaft while he worked on the sixth floor, where the elevator cabin was. Rosa secured the counterweight, a standard procedure, then used a small saw to cut through the ropes, at Milatz’s instruction. The elevator cabin plunged down the shaft and crushed Rosa.

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According to the investigation, Milatz failed to comply with a procedure that required him to “hang” the elevator cabin, which suspends chains and/or engages the elevator’s brake. That procedure prevents the elevator from falling when the ropes are cut. Additionally, Milatz allegedly removed a critical safety feature called the governor – which triggers the braking system on all elevators – two weeks earlier in order to replace it with a new one. The replacement would not fit properly, but instead of reinstalling the old governor, Milatz allegedly continued to work on the elevator without the safety feature.


Milatz was arraigned on one count of criminally negligent homicide before Bronx Supreme Court Justice George Villegas. He was given supervised release and is due back in court on June 8, 2023. If convicted, Milatz could face a prison sentence.


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