COLUMBIA TWP. — At the request of law enforcement officials, Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation investigators did not meet Thursday with Sam Mazzola, who owned the bear that fatally mauled Brent Kandra last month.

The BWC is reviewing whether Kandra was a paid employee of Mazzola, who hasn’t had workers’ compensation coverage for his businesses since he let it lapse in September 2005.

Maria Smith, a BWC spokeswoman, said that compliance officers on the Mazzola case instead met with law enforcement officials investigating the attack on Kandra.

She said those investigators asked BWC officials not to meet with Mazzola yet.

Lorain County Sheriff’s Sgt. Don Barker said Thursday that the investigation into Kandra’s death is ongoing.
Smith said the BWC will review documents seized by deputies as part of their investigation.

Kandra was feeding corn and doughnuts to Iroquois, one of several black bears that Mazzola owns and keeps at his Columbia Township compound, on Aug 19 when the bear attacked him and pulled him into its cage.

Mazzola has told deputies that he fought off the bear with a fire extinguisher. He then called 911 and Kandra was taken to the hospital, where he died a few hours later. Iroquois was euthanized at the request of Kandra’s family.

If Mazzola was paying Kandra to work for him — deputies and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which is also investigating the mauling, have said they don’t have a clear answer to the question — Mazzola could face criminal and civil penalties from the state.

Mazzola, who did not return a call seeking comment Thursday, has said that Kandra was a former employee who he became friends with and that Kandra was helping out as a friend.

At the time he let his workers’ compensation coverage lapse, Mazzola was listed as a sole operator with the state, which meant he wasn’t required to have the coverage. But under Ohio law, anyone with one or more employees must have BWC coverage.

The BWC was among the creditors that have sought to recover funding from Mazzola, who has sought bankruptcy protection four times since 2008, but all of those cases have been dismissed for various reasons, including failure to make payments on court-ordered plans to repay creditors.

The BWC had sought to obtain $5,379.78 in unpaid premiums from Mazzola, but that amount was reduced to $27.42 after Mazzola said he hadn’t been in business since November 2005.

He also no longer has a license from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to publicly display exotic animals.

Mazzola has had numerous problems with animals over the years, including being sentenced to probation on federal charges that he had illegally transported animals for public display in 2007. He also was convicted in that case of illegally selling skunks.

In the wake of the mauling, a federal judge ordered Mazzola to begin undergoing mental health treatment, something Mazzola has said he welcomes.

Contact Brad Dicken at 329-7147 or bdicken@chroniclet.com.

---

Print this story
Report an inappropriate comment

---

In order to comment, you must agree to our user agreement and discussion guidelines.

Need help? Email Us.

---