All three elevators at the Crockett Hotel, where a housekeeper fell six stories down the shaft of a service elevator Wednesday and was killed, were more than two weeks behind schedule on state-mandated annual inspections.
Elevators at the Menger Hotel, which is owned by the same company, were also behind schedule, said Susan Stanford, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
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Stanford said a licensed inspector was supposed to examine elevators at the Crockett by Dec. 14, and elevators at the Menger by Dec. 15. Those inspections hadn't occurred, she said.
All elevators at both hotels were shut down Thursday night and examined by licensed inspectors, Stanford said. The elevators passed the inspections, but the hotels' owner could still be in violation of state regulations for failing to inspect them by the scheduled deadline, she said.
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Rodriguez's daughter, Sara Ochoa, works at the Menger Hotel and said the service elevator at the Crockett had gotten stuck in the past. In a tearful interview Thursday, she said the hotel didn't do enough to keep its employees safe.
There's no need for my mother to fall six floors down, Ochoa said.
