Royal Caribbean Cruises says the grandfather who dropped his granddaughter from a window on board the Freedom of the Seas knew that the window was open.
Salvatore Anello is charged with negligent homicide. In his defense, Anello claims that he did lift his 18-month-old granddaughter, Chloe Wiegand, but said he didn’t know the window, which was 11 stories above the dock, was open since he was colorblind, WXIN reported.
“It’s like it disappeared. It’s like the glass disappeared,” he told CBS News during an interview in November.
The little girl’s parents are suing Royal Caribbean, saying that the windows in the children’s play area from where Chloe fell were not safe. The suit was filed in December, CBS News reported.
But the cruise line’s officials have filed documents in court that say Anello knew the window was open because he leaned from it before he picked up his granddaughter and held her from the opening, WXIN reported.
The cruise line produced video from two surveillance cameras showing Anello leaning from the window, WRTV reported.
Click here to see still images from the surveillance cameras.
In legal filings, according to WRTV, the cruise line representatives said, “This is a case about an adult man, Chloe’s step grandfather who, as surveillance footage unquestionably confirms: (1) walked up to a window he was aware was open; (2) leaned his upper body out the window for several seconds; (3) reached down and picked up Chloe; and (4) then held her by and out of the open window for thirty four seconds before he lost his grip and dropped Chloe out of the window. His actions, which no reasonable person could have foreseen, were reckless and irresponsible and the sole reason why Chloe is no longer with her parents.”
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