Harbourside Place electrocution: Man who helped with rescue sues Jupiter dining complex

JUPITER — A 22-year-old Palm Beach Gardens man who jumped in the Harbourside Place fountain to help a 45-year-old Jupiter father of four save his children from electrical shocks has sued the complex for damages.

The electrocution, which happened last October at the popular Jupiter waterfront retail and restaurant complex, killed town native Nate Davenport and sent another man and three of Davenport's children to hospitals.

Davenport's family recently settled its own lawsuit with Harbourside Place. Its lawsuit claimed that the complex's owners negligently allowed broken lights inside the fountain to leak electrical voltage into the pools that day. The fountain remains out of service and blocked off from visitors.

'A brother to everybody': Friends recall Nate Davenport, who died saving kids in Jupiter fountain

New lawsuit calls Jupiter's Harbourside Place fountain 'a hidden trap'

The new lawsuit filed on Feb. 1 details that Syler Sparks was visiting Harbourside Place on Oct. 22 when he heard people crying at its fountain. It said he entered the fountain to help Davenport and others struggling to get out. Sparks claims that he also got shocked by the electricity running through the water.

Calling the fountain a "hidden trap," the lawsuit seeks more than $50,000 in damages and says that incident inflicted emotional trauma and distress on Sparks, as well as “serious and significant” physical injuries.

Harbourside Place electrocution: Woman recalls feeling shock in fountain water that summer

In a prepared statement, Barry A. Postman of West Palm Beach, the attorney representing Harbourside Place, said he understood Sparks' injuries to be minor. "We will continue to work with Mr. Sparks' counsel to try and reach an amicable resolution to this lawsuit," the statement said.

Postman said in December that the complex’s owners were completely unaware of any problem with the fountain before the incident and that "they would have moved immediately to fix it" had they known.

Joseph Curley, the circuit judge presiding over Sparks’ lawsuit, has not yet set a hearing date. Michael Overbeck, the West Palm Beach-based attorney representing Sparks, has not returned a request for comment.

Father jumped in to fountain waters to save fearful children

The electrocution happened when Davenport and a friend had taken some of their children to Harbourside Place on Oct. 22. Three of the children began to play in the splash area and fountain, and one fell into the water. Signs posted near the fountain said swimming was not permitted.

When the kids screamed from the water, Davenport jumped in without hesitation and threw the kids out of the fountain. Then he fell over.

Davenport was in the water only about 30 seconds before he felt an electrical current go through his body, according to a Jupiter police report. He lost consciousness, never regained it and was pronounced dead at Jupiter Medical Center.

His friend, Seth Kozak, got in the water to help Davenport but felt a shock, and then another one as he reached to help his child. He and the three children who were shocked received treatment at St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach.

Maya Washburn covers northern Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida-Network. Reach her at mwashburn@pbpost.com. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach Gardens man sues Harbourside over fountain electrocution