With Le’Veon Bell announcing his plans to return to the team, Ben Roethlisberger re-establishing his connection with Antonio Brown and the Steelers actually winning, Pittsburgh seemed for the most part to have put the drama that plagued the start of their season behind them.
And then this happened…
Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown is being sued for allegedly throwing furniture from a 14th-floor North Miami balcony that nearly killed a then-22-month-old who was walking with his grandfather below.
Ophir Sternberg, CEO and founding partner of Miami-based Lionheart Capital, LLC, is seeking in excess of $15,000 in damages, claiming that the incident left his son, Amnon Sternberg, “severely traumatized,” according to a lawsuit filed in Miami-Dade County, Fla.
The Steeelers declined to comment on the litigation.
The incident occurred about 10:30 a.m. April 24 at The Mansions at Acqualina in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla.
According to the Aug. 16 lawsuit, Amnon Sternberg and his grandfather had been walking near the pool at the complex when large and heavy objects, including two vases, an ottoman and other pieces of furniture started to fall from the building from many floors above them. The suit said some of the items fell within “a mere foot or two” of them and could have severely injured or possibly killed them. One of the vases shattered when it hit the ground.
The suit says Amnon Sternberg was “immediately terror stricken and ran away crying hysterically,” and “severely traumatized by the incident, crying for hours on end the day it occurred and was unable to sleep that night.”
“Since that day, (Amnon Sternberg) has exhibited symptoms of fear and anxiety, having night terrors every night and waking up numerous times in a panic and crying, when this never occurred prior to the incident,” the suit says.
According to the suit, the incident was investigated by security personnel, who determined Brown was responsible for throwing the objects. The suit also says surveillance video shows the objects falling from the 14th floor balcony and landing close to Amnon Sternberg and his grandfather.
Brown, according to the suit, allegedly caused extensive damage to the room in a fit of rage and threw the objects over the balcony. The suit further alleges that Brown was “extremely agitated, acting aggressively, and yelling at security personnel when the Sunny Isles police arrived to the scene.”
