YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Two more lawsuits – one by a former resident of Realty Tower and another by a Chase Bank employee – have been filed related to the May 2024 explosion at the downtown building.

Both suits, filed Jan. 27 and Feb. 13, respectively, in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court list YO Properties 47 LLC, LY Property Management LLC, Greenheart Companies LLC and various Enbridge and Dominion companies as defendants. 

The suit filed by Eartha Hopkins and her son of Boardman, who formerly lived in the since-razed downtown building, also lists as defendants unknown individuals and corporations. It alleges negligence of the defendants, saying Hopkins and her son suffered “severe and permanent personal injuries,” “great pain of body and mind, a loss of enjoyment of life, mental anguish, required medical care and treatment in the past, and will continue to suffer …” It also contends Hopkins lost employment income.

Tina Sims of Girard was an employee of the Chase Bank building on the first floor of Realty at the time of the explosion. The lawsuit, which also claims negligence by the defendants, says she was injured and trapped in the building after the blast and “endured pain, suffering, and terror for an extended period of time prior to being rescued from the scene.” It says she suffered neck and blast injuries as well as leg and lower back pain, a concussion and generalized trauma to her spine and body.

The suit also says she has been and will be deprived of her earnings.

The two lawsuits are the latest of several filed stemming from the explosion that killed a Chase Bank employee and injured several bank employees and Realty residents.

Last August, the National Transportation Safety Board determined that a cut by a scrap removal crew into an active Enbridge natural gas service line that was incorrectly documented as inactive was the probable cause of the explosion.

The NTSB also found as a contributor to the severity of the incident that Chase Bank’s emergency procedures didn’t require employees to immediately evacuate upon being alerted to a natural gas leak. 

The lawsuit filed by the family of Akil Drake, the Chase employee who was killed, was settled last July for $6.1 million. 

Pictured at top: Damage is seen to the Realty Tower after the May 28, 2024, explosion.