Lawsuit accuses Naperville Park District of neglect over Centennial Beach drowning
The family of a Streamwood man who died last summer at Centennial Beach in Naperville is suing the Naperville Park District for wrongful death.
The lawsuit contends the park district should have immediately begun searching the deep end of the former quarry for Manuel Rosales-Yajure when his friends reported him missing.
By not doing so, the park district showed “willful and wanton neglect” for the man’s safety, especially since the district had experienced a similar event in 2018, where a boy nearly died, according to the lawsuit.
“We remain deeply saddened for the family and loved ones of Manuel Rosales,” Brad Wilson, the park district’s executive director, said in an emailed statement Monday in response to a request for comment.
Wilson added that the police report for the July 2025 incident “confirms this was an unfortunate accident and the park district is incredibly supportive and proud of the rescue efforts taken by its lifeguards and other beach employees. The park district will not be issuing further comment at this time.”
Rosales-Yajure, 27, of Streamwood, died July 10, 2025, while he was at the Centennial Beach with friends. They were swimming to the center platform of the deep end, where the water is about 15 feet deep.
The lawsuit says the friends last saw him at 5:20 p.m. and notified beach workers within five minutes. At 5:27 p.m., the friends told the workers that Rosales-Yajure was not answering his cellphone. At 5:43 p.m., the workers sounded an alarm to have all swimmers get out of the water and began searching the water. Rosales-Yajure’s body was found at 6:09 p.m.
According to the lawsuit, beach workers didn’t search the water right away. Instead, they first looked for Rosales-Yajure on land, including in the restrooms and parking lots, and made public address announcements.
The suit contends the workers should have searched the deep end of the water immediately.
The lawsuit cited a similar incident in 2018, where a 13-year-old boy was rescued from the bottom of the deep end. The boy sustained critical injuries to his lungs, according to the lawsuit.
“After the (2018) incident, defendant knew that a patron could disappear below the surface in Centennial Beach’s deep, murky water; knew that a companion report of a missing swimmer had to be treated as credible and urgent; knew that delayed recognition, delayed water clearing, delayed underwater search and delayed resuscitation could cause death or catastrophic injury; and knew that Centennial Beach required immediate submerged-swimmer protocols tailored to its facility-specific hazards,” the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit was filed May 21 in DuPage County Circuit Court by Rosales-Yajure’s brother, as administrator of Rosales-Yajure’s estate. Rosales-Yajure is survived by a wife and daughter.