WARREN — The family of Lisa M. Zitello is expected to file a civil lawsuit against the city, accusing it of failing to warn about using the Mahoning River near the Summit Street dam due to the dangers of traveling the area and its history of accidents.

Zitello on May 3, 2020, was navigating the river when the kayak in which she was traveling flipped due to the heavy current.

Zitello struggled to keep herself between a rock while being battered by the fast-moving water. She was eventually dislodged from the rock and was moving down the river when two brothers who were preparing to fish in the area, along with a variety of first responders, were able to get her to the shore to be treated and taken to the hospital.

The Austintown resident has been in a coma since that time.

The law firm of Peiffer, Wolf, Carr, Kane Conway & Wise is representing the family. It has offices in Youngstown, Cleveland, New York, New Orleans, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin and St. Louis.

Local attorney Joe Schiavoni is assisting the firm in the lawsuit.

City Law Director Enzo Cantalamessa said he cannot comment on any pending litigation against the city.

CLAIM OF DANGER

The lawsuit is expected to state the city failed to post clear warnings about the deadly hazard downstream.

In the announcement about coming court action, representatives of the family stated the Summit Street dam is an extremely dangerous low-head dam, that Warren’s fire chief has publicly called a “drowning machine.”

At least three people have died there prior to Zitello’s accident, the family representatives stated.

Warnings had been there, but washed away before the tragedy took place, they added.

New warning signs have since been installed.

Zitello’s family alleges it was the city’s lack of adequate warning to boaters on the Mahoning River of a deadly hazard downstream that contributed to her being injured.

It argues low-head dams, such as the Summit Street dam, present an extreme risk to anyone who enters or navigates the river. Such dams appear harmless to unsuspecting boaters, but they are very dangerous because of the turbulence at the base of the dam that can trap victims underwater. Nationally, low-head dams are responsible for roughly 50 deaths every year, the family representatives added.