Suit: Geneva did not provide proper warning near dam where man drowned
By Matt Hanley mhanley@stmedianetwork.com May 28, 2012 3:48PM
Randy Suchy, a former Marine, drowned while trying to save a 12-year-old boy caught in the Geneva dam in the Fox River. The boy was saved.
Updated: May 28, 2012 10:42PM
ST. CHARLES TOWNSHIP — The family of a Naperville man who drowned in the Fox River is suing the city of Geneva, arguing there were not proper safety measures in place near the Geneva Dam.
Randy Suchy, 59, drowned on Aug. 5, 2011, after he jumped into the river to save a 12-year-old boy. According to Geneva firefighters, two 12-year-old boys were on the land near the downstream side of the Geneva Dam when they fell in.
One of the boys was pulled beneath the surface by the undertow at the dam base. Suchy — the boyfriend of the boy’s mother — jumped in after him. Suchy grabbed the boy but was also pulled beneath the surface.
Three men from Naperville who had been biking on the Fox River Trail grabbed Suchy and the boy as they started to float downriver. The boy survived, but Suchy died from his injuries.
According to the suit filed earlier this month in Kane County Court, the city of Geneva knew that the area near the Geneva Dam was dangerous and could not be used safely. Children and adults were not aware of the dangers and Geneva did not have sufficient warning signs in the area to alert people, the suit says.
“(The city) persisted in causing and encouraging children and adults use the land in close proximity to the downstream side of the low head Geneva Dam when it (the city) knew the area could not be used safely,” the suit says.
The suit also argues the city failed to maintain fencing in the area and did not keep lifesaving devices near the dam.
The suit is scheduled to be in court Aug. 9.
