SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — The owner of an iconic nightclub in the Dominican Republic whose roof collapsed in April and killed 236 people was arrested Thursday along with his sister.
Antonio Espaillat and Maribel Espaillat have not been charged in the case, although authorities have 48 hours to present any charges before a judge.
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FILE - Family and friends grieve during the burial service for Marilenny Pilarte who died at the Jet Set nightclub when its roof collapsed, in Haina, Dominican Republic, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
FILE - A banner with images of some of the victims of the Jet Set nightclub roof collapse that killed more than 200 people, is displayed on a facade in Haina, Dominican Republic, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
FILE - The hat and sunglasses of Dominican singer Rubby Perez, who died in the roof collapse at the Jet Set nightclub during his merengue concert, sit on his casket during his wake at the Eduardo Brito National Theater in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
FILE - Rescue workers search for bodies at the Jet Set nightclub after its roof collapsed during a merengue concert in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
“Both defendants displayed immense irresponsibility and negligence by failing to physically intervene to prevent the club’s roof from collapsing, as it ultimately did, causing 236 deaths and more than 180 injuries,” the Dominican Republic’s Attorney General’s Office said in a statement.
Prosecutors accused the Espaillats of trying to intimidate or manipulate company employees, adding that they could serve as witnesses in the case. Antonio Espaillat is considered a powerful businessman in the Dominican Republic; he owns upscale entertainment centers and dozens of local radio stations.
Miguel Valerio, the Espaillats' attorney, told reporters that he expects to have access to the prosecutors' evidence in upcoming days.
“This is an involuntary homicide,” he said. “Nobody wanted that to happen.”
The Espaillats were arrested after being interrogated for several hours.
Altanto TV, a local digital news channel, posted an interview with a man they identified as former Jet Set employee Gregory Adamés. The channel said he gave prosecutors videos and conversations with Antonio Espaillat in which he warned that the April 7 party shouldn’t be held because the roof could collapse.
Adamés said in a video posted on Instagram that he would hold the Espaillat family responsible if he disappears or is shot or involved in an accident.
“If something happens to me, it’s clear where it came from,” he said. “My intention is not to hurt anyone, only that the truth be known."
A government-appointed committee that includes international experts is still investigating what caused the roof to collapse.
Crews worked for 53 hours nonstop after arriving on the scene in Santo Domingo shortly after midnight on April 8, rescuing 189 survivors.
The victims included beloved singer Rubby Pérez, who was performing when the roof caved in, and Nelsy Cruz, the governor of Montecristi province and sister of seven-time Major League Baseball All-Star Nelson Cruz.
Also killed was former MLB pitcher Octavio Dotel, who was pulled from the debris but died in hospital, and Dominican baseball player Tony Enrique Blanco Cabrera.
Other victims include a retired U.N. official, New York-based fashion designer Martín Polanco, an Army captain who left behind four young girls, and three employees at Grupo Popular, a financial services company, including the president of AFP Popular Bank and his wife.
The relatives of several survivors have filed lawsuits against Antonio Espaillat.
The club, which had operated for nearly five decades, was known for its Monday night merengue parties that attracted international celebrities and high-profile Dominicans.
FILE - Family and friends grieve during the burial service for Marilenny Pilarte who died at the Jet Set nightclub when its roof collapsed, in Haina, Dominican Republic, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
FILE - A banner with images of some of the victims of the Jet Set nightclub roof collapse that killed more than 200 people, is displayed on a facade in Haina, Dominican Republic, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
FILE - The hat and sunglasses of Dominican singer Rubby Perez, who died in the roof collapse at the Jet Set nightclub during his merengue concert, sit on his casket during his wake at the Eduardo Brito National Theater in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
FILE - Rescue workers search for bodies at the Jet Set nightclub after its roof collapsed during a merengue concert in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Madison Chock and Evan Bates danced their way to a record-setting seventh U.S. Figure Skating title on Saturday night, showcasing their trademark creativity, athleticism and precision in their final competition before the Milan Cortina Olympics.
Now, the countdown is on for the moment they have waited for the past four years.
“We like to build momentum through the season,” Bates said, “and it's a great feeling going into a big event knowing you skated well the previous event. So we're going to roll with that momentum into Milan.”
Chock and Bates have dominated ice dance ever since they finished fourth at the Beijing Games, arguably the most disappointing and frustrating placement for any Olympian. They have won the past three world titles, the past three gold medals at the Grand Prix Final, and they have nobody within sight of them when it comes to competing against fellow Americans.
Performing a flamenco-styled dance to a version of the Rolling Stones hit “Paint It Black” from the dystopian sci-fi Western drama “Westworld,” Chock and Bates produced a season-best free skate inside Enterprise Center and finished with 228.87 points.
Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik were second with 213.65 points and Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko were third with 206.95, making those two pairs the likely choices to join Chock and Bates on the American squad for the Winter Games.
There wasn’t much drama in the dance competition.
At least for the top step.
Yet sometimes the winning programs aren’t necessarily the ones that win over the crowd. And while Oona Brown and Gage Brown only finished fifth, the sister-brother duo — former world junior champions — earned the first standing ovation of the night for their moody, creative and almost cinematic program set to selections from the film “The Godfather.”
“I think that was one of the best — if not the best — performances we’ve had,” Gage Brown said afterward.
The Browns ended a stretch in which several couples taking the ice made some kind of significant mistake, whether it was a skater stumbling to the ice, someone getting out of synch with their twizzles, or some other calamitous misfortune.
Then it was a parade of near-perfect programs, each couple trying to upstage the previous one.
Emily Bratti and Ian Somerville were the first to knock the Brown siblings from first place, then reigning bronze medalists Caroline Green and Michael Parsons took over first place with their program, set to “Escalate” by Tsar B and “Son of Nyx” by Hozier.
Carreira and Ponomarenko, the U.S. silver medalists the past two years, knew a podium spot would probably earn them a spot on the Olympic team when they took the ice. And they delivered with a sharp program in which they seemed to channel the feeling and the characters from the 2006 psychological thriller film “Perfume: The Story of a Murder.”
“We had a bit of a rocky start to this season,” said Carreira, who was born in Canada but receiver her U.S. citizenship in November, making her eligible to compete at the Olympics. “I'm happy we got our act together and delivered a good performance here.”
It wound up being good enough for bronze.
That's because the 23-year-old Zingas, who made the difficult witch from singles to dance about four years ago, and the 24-year-old Kolesnik quickly assumed the top spot with a program set to music by Sergei Prokofiev from the ballet of “Romeo and Juliet.”
“It hasn't been an easy journey,” Zingas said, “and I think our unique approach to this season, and our unique style on the ice, really helped us, and it's really an emotional moment to be sitting here.”
Zingas and Kolesnik only held the top spot for about four minutes — the length of the free skate by Chock and Bates.
It almost seemed to be a forgone conclusion that they would win Saturday night. But the real pressure now begins: Chock and Bates finished eighth at the 2014 Olympics, ninth four years later, and came in fourth at the Winter Games in 2022.
Yes, they helped the Americans win team gold in Beijing, but even that was somewhat tainted. They never got a medal ceremony there because of a long investigation into Russian doping, which pushed their presentation all the way to the 2024 Summer Games.
They would love to help the U.S. win another team gold. But their target is unquestionably the ice dance title itself.
“It’s going to be a lot more of what it has been — we know what to do, we have our plan and we’re executing,” Chock said. “We don’t plan on deviating from it. We’re going to stick to it. Trust ourselves, trust our team and do what we know to do.”
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko skate during the free dance competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik skate during the free dance competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik react to their scores after the free dance competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Madison Chock and Evan Bates watch for scores after finishing the free dance competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Madison Chock and Evan Bates skate during the free dance competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
