Philadelphia Police have raided the home of the man who operated a backhoe at the site of Wednesday's deadly building collapse in downtown Philadelphia. The raid comes hours after NBC10 Philadelphia learned the man had drugs in his system the day of the collapse.
Sean Benschop, 42, had marijuana and prescription painkillers in his blood two hours after the outer wall of 2136 Market Street tumbled down onto the Salvation Army Thrift Shop Wednesday morning, sources tell NBC10.
Investigators went into Benschop's home along the 4900 block of North 7th Street in the Olney section of Philadelphia around 4:30 p.m. Friday.
NBC10 was there as detectives removed several boxes, notebook and desktop computers and a hard drive from the home.
Benschop's whereabouts are currently unknown. Neighbors tell NBC10 that investigators were asking them if they had seen the man. Neighbors replied they hadn't seen him in some time.
The Center City collapse buried nearly two dozen people under brick, cement and wood. Six people were killed and 13 hurt in the collapse. One woman was buried for 13 hours under rubble before being rescued.
Sources say Benschop was taken to a nearby hospital after the four-story building came down to take a blood and urine test. Those tests were expedited for quick results.
Benschop is a convicted felon and lists himself as self-employed, sources say.
An investigation into the cause of the collapse is ongoing and criminal charges have not been filed. However, the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office's Homicide Unit was at the collapse scene Thursday.
The DA Office's spokeswoman Tasha Jamerson said it was too early to comment further on any potential criminal charges.
Benschop was operating the crane for demolition contractor Griffin Campbell Construction. City officials stopped work at two other Griffin Campbell sites in the city's Midtown Village section on Thursday.
Construction company owner Griffin Campbell had a valid contractor license, issued this January, but owed thousands of dollars in unpaid city, state and federal business taxes.
Campbell, 49, also has a criminal history — having pleaded guilty to theft and insurance fraud charges in 2009.
Construction workers and everyday citizens called Griffin Campbell Construction's demolition practices at the site into question prior to and following the collapse.
Stephen Field told the City of Philadelphia's Philly311 customer service center about a lack of safety gear being used by workers as they hacked away at the brick building. He also voiced his concern that pedestrians could be hit by falling debris or that a complete collapse could happen.
City officials said they sent out a building inspector to an adjacent work site at 2134 Market Street after being provided with that site's address. They say the inspector found no violations. Officials also said demolition work had not begun at the site of Wednesday's collapse and so that demolition project was never inspected.
Field disputed that claim, saying there was "no doubt" both building were being demolished at the same time. City officials have not responded to Field's dispute.
A lawsuit has already been filed on behalf of two of the victims — one shopper and one employee.
Crews had been working to clear the collapse site since Wednesday, but work will be halted Saturday as attorneys involved in the suit will be allowed to inspect the site and remove evidence.
Contact Vince Lattanzio at 610.668.5532, vince.lattanzio@nbcuni.com or follow @VinceLattanzio on Twitter.