Union fighting warrant in stage collapse probe

INDIANAPOLIS — A stagehands union is fighting an attempt by an agency investigating the deadly Indiana State Fair stage collapse to seize records of its members.

State safety investigators left empty-handed after arriving Thursday at International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees Local 30.

A stagehand was among the seven people killed when the stage rigging fell Aug. 13. Several stagehands were among the 40 other people injured.

Union attorney William Goth tells WTHR-TV that he wants a judge to hear arguments that the civil warrant should be served on the state fair as the employer and that the union feels it is being scapegoated.

State Labor Department spokeswoman Chetrice Mosley tells The Indianapolis Star that the agency is investigating the stage collapse as it would any other workplace death.