They also will examine the ride equipment and try to determine if anyone wanted to hurt Joshua, who was mentally and physically disabled. After the meeting, nobody was ready to give any preliminary findings.ĭetectives will interview employees and witnesses to determine if there was any criminal negligence or any use of controlled substances or alcohol by ride operators. Santa Clara police met yesterday with Great America officials and the ride's manufacturer, the Switzerland-based Intamin AG, to discuss what could have happened. "When the vehicle is in motion, there is no way to unlock it," he said. Greg Sanders, ride maintenance manager for the park, said the harness is electronically operated and can be lifted only after the ride has stopped at the bottom. One manager said he found it hard to believe that the safety harness could pop open, regardless of what people may have thought they saw. But they asserted that Drop Zone operators said it was snapped shut both at the beginning and at the end of the ride. Representatives of the amusement park in Santa Clara said yesterday they could not confirm or deny whether the harness was open. "It sounded like a big kerchunk, like (the sound made) when the harness snaps open or closed when you get on or off the ride." "When the braking system started, I heard something," he told the San Francisco Examiner. The friend, Jay Lingenfelter, 35, also said the accident seemed to occur when the ride's magnetic breaking system engaged more than halfway down the tower. I knelt down right there and said a prayer."Ī second witness, a family friend who was on the ride with Joshua, said he did not remember the boy's safety harness being checked by workers before the ride began. "His mother came over in hysterics and kept yelling, 'Why didn't they put the bar down? How could this happen?' " said Winslow, a 30-year-old waiter. Thrill Ride Death Probe Expected to End Soon
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |