Crown Castle Alleges Trespassing, Negligence in Damaged Cable Lawsuit

Downrite Engineering employees damaged Crown Castle underground cable on three occasions while excavating on land in and around Miami, without Crown Castle’s knowledge or consent, alleged Crown Castle in a complaint Monday (docket 163330712) in the 11th Judicial Circuit Court in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Crown Castle seeks damages nearing $63,000, plus pre- and post-judgment interest and further relief.

Crown Castle, which has the rights to install, operate and maintain telecom cables near the intersection of Red and Hiatus roads in Hollywood, Florida, and the intersection of SW 88th Street and SW 162nd Avenue, Miami, is entitled to “undisturbed possession of those rights,” it said. It’s a member of Sunshine State One-Call of Florida, a notification center formed to receive notices from excavators planning to dig within Florida and transmit the notices to operators of underground facilities within a proposed excavation area, it noted.

In count one, trespassing, Downrite’s equipment caused disturbance to Crown Castle’s “rights of use or servitude,” and the loss of its Cable 1 in May 2020, resulting in actual damages of more than $45,000, the plaintiff alleged. In count 2, negligence, Crown Castle asserted Downrite failed 1) to excavate in a “careful and prudent manner” based on accepted engineering practices, 2) to take adequate measures to ensure Crown Castle’s Cable 1 wouldn’t be damaged during excavation, 3) to train its employees involved with excavation regarding applicable statutes, regulations and industry standards related to underground utilities, 4) to adequately supervise its employees, and 5) adhere to applicable federal and state statutes and regulations.

Downrite failed to excavate in a “careful and prudent manner,” to train its employees involved with excavation on applicable statutes, regulations and industry standards for underground utilities, and to take adequate measures to ensure Crown Castle’s Cable 1 wouldn’t be damaged during the excavation.

Counts three and four, trespassing and negligence, involved a second cable that was damaged during excavations in July 2019 from Downrite equipment, alleged the complaint. Actual damages arising from that incident totaled over $8,600, it said. Counts five and six, also for trespass and negligence, involved damage to Cable 2 in an August 2020 incident, said the complaint, citing actual damages of just over $8,000. Downrite didn’t respond to a request for comment Wednesday.