Archive
Former security guard settles lawsuit against Cabell Commission www.privateofficer.com
HUNTINGTON WV DEC 20 2012 – The woman who claimed intolerable work conditions at the Cabell County Commission has settled her lawsuit.
U.S. District Judge Robert Chambers entered an order Dec. 13 that put her case on the inactive docket. Chambers wrote the two parties reached a settlement, but the terms were not disclosed.
The lawsuit was filed in April 2011 in Cabell County Circuit Court. It alleged security officer Michelle Bailey was retaliated against by former Sheriff-candidate C.A. Adams because she politically supported one of his opponents in the 2008 election.
Adams lost in the primary election that year but became the director of the Cabell County Courthouse Marshals.
Adams became aware that Bailey supported his opponent and in fall 2008, Bailey became under his supervision, according to the suit.
Bailey claims almost immediately, Adams began to harass her concerning the color of her clothes, where she purchased her clothes, her shoes and other matters.
Bailey claims Adams reduced her work hours in half and scheduled substantially younger, less experienced male security officers to work instead.
The working conditions created by the defendant were so intolerable that a reasonable person would be compelled to quit, according to the suit.
Bailey claims due to the working conditions, she resigned from her employment on April 8, 2009.
A trial was scheduled for Jan. 15.
Source:West Virginia Legal record
Shorelands Program at the Washington Department of Ecology employee charged with embezzlement www.privateofficer.com
Peta Crites, 33, of Olympia, is suspected of making unauthorized expenditures using state-issued procurement cards to purchase alcohol, gift cards and other items, court papers state.
She is charged with one count of first-degree theft in Thurston County Superior Court. Her arraignment is scheduled for April 24.
According to court papers:
A detective with the Washington State Patrol began investigating unauthorized expenditures from DOE’s Shorelands Program in March 2011, after a supervisor discovered itemized receipts for items DOE does not typically pay for, including beer, wine and gift cards.
As the former senior secretary for the Shorelands Program, Crites was in charge of verifying and coding receipts for procurement cards used by Conservation Corps crews to purchase food during jobs across the state.
The supervisor at DOE discovered that Crites kept numerous procurement cards locked in the cabinet above her desk.
The WSP detective found that unauthorized DOE procurement card purchases were made at Macy’s, Toys R Us, the Outback Restaurant, Starbucks, a Shell station, Target, Applebee’s, Sears, Forever 21, Cabela’s and Home Depot, totalling $950.
The detective found that Crites had used a Target gift card that had been purchased using a state procurement card. The detective also found a cashier at a Safeway who identified Crites as the person who had made unauthorized purchases using a DOE procurement card in February 2011.
The investigation revealed a total loss amount to DOE between June 2010 and March 2011 totaling $7,960.
Source:www.thenewstribune.com
US Airways employee stuck in conveyer belt dies at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport www.privateofficer.com
Phoenix AZ Feb 19 2012 A US Airways employee died Friday at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport after he accidentally became lodged between two conveyor belts in the baggage system, authorities said.
Robert Demarco, 60, was working about 11:50 a.m. in the U.S. Transportation Security Administration’s checked- baggage inspection area of Terminal 4 when he became stuck between the upper and lower conveyor belts of the baggage system, said Officer James Holmes, a Phoenix police spokesman.
Phoenix police officers and Fire Department paramedics responded to the inspection area, where Demarco was pronounced dead.
Holmes described the incident as a “tragic accident” and said there were no indications of foul play.
Phoenix police detectives are working to determine exactly how and why the situation occurred, officials said.
Demarco’s body will be turned over to the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Source:www.azcentral.com
North Texas worker hanging Christmas lights electrocuted www.privateofficer.com
Grand Prairie police say the man was moving a 40-foot-tall aluminum ladder when it fell onto power lines Friday morning. He had been standing on the ground but was still holding onto the ladder.
Police say 51-year-old Jens “Renee” Gardner died at a hospital, where he was taken after emergency personnel started CPR at the scene.
Grand Prairie is about 15 miles west of Dallas.
A website for the Historic Anderson Building shows photos from previous holidays. Red and clear lights outlined the windows of the two-story structure built in 1915, and a Christmas tree with sparkling lights was atop the canopy at the entrance.
Source:khou.com
Milwaukee man dies after arm is severed aboard a ship www.privateofficer.com
The SS St. Mary’s Challenger was docked at the lakefront when the accident happened around 9:15 p.m.
According to a preliminary investigation report by the Milwaukee County medical examiner’s office, Ronald L. Hackensmith was working alone by the conveyor belt three decks below the main deck when the accident occurred.
Investigators listed the suggested manner of death as an accident, but they aren’t sure how it happened.
The ship logs show there was a hydraulic oil leak and that Hackensmith had asked other crew members to shut down the engine and restart it. After one round of shutting down and restarting, Hackensmith again requested a shutdown. The log didn’t show him requesting another start-up, but the engine was restarted and was running when the injury occurred, the preliminary report states.
A dishwasher on the ship two decks above the conveyor area first heard Hackensmith screaming and came to help.
Deckhands told investigators that the conveyor belt, which is 782 feet long and moves at 520 feet per minute, would sometimes slip if there was too much concrete on the belt.
“The belt would have to be adjusted if this were the case,” the medical examiner’s report states.
The ship, built in 1905, carried more than 9,000 tons of cement and has 25 crew members, according to the report.
The Milwaukee Police Department, the fire department, U.S. Coast Guard and officers from the Department of Homeland Security responded to the accident. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration also was called to the scene.
Milwaukee police are still investigating, and investigators at the medical examiner’s office have yet to conduct an autopsy and finish their report.
Source:JSOnline.com
Fired employee shoots gas station manager, himself in NC www.privateofficer.com
Police allege that Richard Vance Dixon shot 44-year-old Alex P. Little at about 2 a.m. before turning another firearm on himself at Exprezit Gas Station at 120 Linville Road.
Officers went to the station to investigate a reported shooting and found Dixon, 25, of the 2000 block of Lomond St., dead in the parking lot from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Winston-Salem Police Department.
Police learned that Little fired Dixon from the business on Nov. 1. Dixon returned early Sunday with a handgun and opened fire, striking Little multiple times. Dixon then exited the business and obtained a shotgun from his vehicle, which he fired multiple times into the business. Dixon then shot himself, according to police.
Little was transported to Wake Forest Baptist Hospital where he was listed in critical condition. Police have notified next of kin for both men.
Customer loads shotgun at TN pawnshop and shoots employee www.privateofficer.com
James Alan Greene, who’s in his 60s, went into the pawnshop at 903 Clinch Avenue and asked to see the gun.
Although it was handed to him unloaded, police say Greene apparently brought ammunition with him.
They say he loaded the shotgun and shot pawnshop employee Larry Snellings, 58, during a struggle.
Another pawn shop employee shot back at Greene and hit him.
Greene fled the store, going back to his residence. His wife called 911 shortly afterward, fearing her husband had shot himself, according to Clinton Police Chief Rick Scarbrough.
Greene was flown to UT Medical Center. Snellings was taken to Methodist Medical Center in Oak Ridge.
There’s no word on the conditions of either man
Source:WATE
Security officer commits suicide at work www.privateofficer.com
A worker at the Castaic Canine Camp, located at 36875 Ridge Route Road, said a man committed suicide on the property. His body was found Thursday morning in a building and sheriff’s officials were called to investigate.
The deceased is a white male, possibly in his 30s, the worker said.
Ed Winter of the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office confirmed that the body of a man was discovered at the address, but would not give any other information until the man’s next of kin were notified, he said.
Arthur Wilkoff, who identified himself as the property owner’s lawyer, was at the scene Thursday to escort media off the private property.
“The owner is very distraught and doesn’t want any media on her property,” Wilkoff said.
Wilkoff identified the owner of Castaic Canine Camp as Linda Chisholm. Chisholm is also listed as the business owner on the Castaic Canine Camp’s website.
UPDATE: The suicide victim was identified as Golden West Security Officer, Lt. Christopher Good .
Fort Myers Police employee killed in crash www.privateofficer.com
Crystal M. Ruiz, 25, of Fort Myers, was on her way to work as a community service aide when she was killed at the corner of Lee Boulevard and Westgate Boulevard.
She was attempting to turn left onto Lee Boulevard when another vehicle going straight hit the left side of her car. Ruiz’s car spun out onto the shoulder, according to a Florida Highway Patrol report.
The other car, driven by Richard Mauro Jr., 42 of Cape Coral, overturned onto its roof. Mauro was taken to Lee Memorial Hospital with minor injuries.
FHP is investigating whether Mauro was under the influence of alcohol.
The agency does not know who had right of way, as the color of the traffic signal at the time of the crash is unknown.
FHP responded to the scene just after noon.
Ruiz had worked at the Police Department as a community service aid since fall 2008.
Community service aides are full-time, paid members of police staff who respond to nonviolent calls such as traffic crashes.
“Our thoughts and prayers obviously immediately go out to her family. It’s got to be difficult,” Chief Doug Baker said.
“We’ll pull together, work together and help ourselves and help the family get through with our services.”
The death comes on the 8-year anniversary of the day Fort Myers Police Officer Daniel Starks was killed in a car crash while on duty.
Source:news-press.com
NC sanitation worker killed in garbage truck accident www.privateofficer.com
Fayetteville NC Oct 27 2011 A sanitation worker was killed Tuesday when he fell off the back of a garbage truck and was run over by the driver, the Highway Patrol said.
Twenty-year-old Jordan Nanney, an employee of Cumberland Garbage and Trash Service, was killed about 8:25 a.m., Sgt. D.L. Mobley said.
The accident happened on Bardolino Drive in the Woods at Birch Creek neighborhood off Lakewood Road, Mobley said.
Nanney was riding on the back of a garbage truck that was backing up when he fell off, Mobley said. The truck, driven by 64-year-old Wilbert Gardner, ran over Nanney, Mobley said.
“The truck was going at a very low speed,” Mobley said. “It was a freak accident.”
Nanney apparently lost his grip on truck’s handles or his footing, Trooper B.M. Tyler said.
He fell to the pavement and Gardner was unaware of that, Mobley said.
Another worker riding on the back of the truck, Ronald Virgil, 40, of Parkton, unsuccessfully tried to get Gardner’s attention after Nanney fell, Mobley said.
Gardner, who was shaken up after the accident, was taken to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center as a precaution, Tyler said.
No charges will be filed, Tyler said.
This is the second time in three months the business has had to deal with the death of an employee.
Business owner Ronald Waits Forbes, 61, and the former owner, Bennie Dalton Williams, 78, were killed July 20 in a plane crash in Harnett County.
Williams, who sold the business to Forbes in 1974, was piloting a Cessna aircraft when it went down in woods about a half-mile from the Harnett Regional Jetport in Erwin, according to a preliminary report filed with the National Transportation Safety Board.
The cause of the crash has not been determined.
U.S. Forest Service employee found dead on Portland mountain trail www.privateofficer.com
Julie and Rob Leskun, of Chicago, were on a day hike when they found 64-year-old Trail Coordinator James Proctor lying in the middle of the trail Friday, according to Lt. Steve Alexander.
They called for help and began CPR. Medics arrived but were unable to revive him.
Proctor was pronounced dead at the scene. Alexander said there was no indication of foul play.
Source:kgw.com
Husband kills wife-self at Charlotte area Lowe’s store www.privateofficer.com
CONCORD, N.C. Sept 20 2011 — Police said two people were shot to death at the Lowe’s Home Improvement store at 3025 Dale Earnhardt Boulevard in Concord.
Police have confirmed that two people are dead and that the victims knew each other.
Eyewitness News spoke with Zachary Bare. His parents were inside the store during the shooting.
“They went outside the store and when they came out, they saw two people laying there. They were pretty much scared to death,” said Bare.
A representative with the Lowe’s corporate office confirmed to Channel 9 that one of the deceased is a store employee.
People inside the store told Eyewitness News a husband shot his wife, who was an employee at the store, then turned the gun on himself. We asked, but Concord police have not confirmed this information.
Police said that nobody else was targeted or hurt and that the shooting was not a random act.
Chopper 9 flew over the scene where employees could be seen standing outside the store as police conducted their investigation.
Source:wsoctv.com
Florida Burker King employee shot to death www.privateofficer.com
DeBary Fla Sept 20 2011 A worker at a DeBary Burger King was shot to death Monday morning by a man identified as her former boyfriend, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said.
The shooting appears to be the result of a domestic quarrel, Sheriff’s spokesman Gary Davidson said.
He identified the victim as Heidi Shelmire.
In custody is 41-year-old Jesus Morales, he said.
There is a history of violence in their relationship, and Morales was recently released from jail after serving three months for aggravated stalking and violating an injunction for protection obtained by the victim, Davidson said.
Deputies were dispatched to the restaurant at 305 Sunrise Blvd. about 10:20 a.m., he said.
Shelmire was taken by ambulance to Florida Hospital Fish Memorial in Orange City, where she was pronounced dead, Davidson said.
Morales surrendered about 10:45 a.m., Davidson said. The charges Morales faces have not been released.
Texas shoplifter gets life in prison in death of store worker www.privateofficer.com
The Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office says William Kennedy was sentenced Wednesday after being convicted of aggravated robbery.
While fleeing a Walmart after stealing a television last year, the 38-year-old knocked down a worker who hit his head.
Bruce Florence died nine days later in a hospital. The 56-year-old Florence suffered from hepatitis and had been waiting for a liver transplant.
Tarrant County prosecutors told jurors that Kennedy had nine prior convictions, including ones for theft, drugs and burglary.
After the trial, prosecutor Nelda Cacciotti said she hopes all shoplifters get the message that thefts may have long-term consequences.
Alabama Krystal restaurant employees killed by co-worker www.privateofficer.com
DECATUR, AL Aug 25 2011 – Decatur police are investigating the shooting deaths of two Krystal employees.
An employee found one body inside the restaurant on 6th Avenue just before 5 a.m. Wednesday and called police. Officers responded to the scene and discovered a second body.
Police identified the victims as 50-year-old Jeffery Mark Graff of Huntsville and 23-year-old Jesse Jose Aguilar of Decatur.
Graff’s body was found outside the restaurant’s cooler. Aguilar’s body was found inside the cooler.
Sgt. John Crouch with Decatur Police said they have arrested Jordaan Creque. Creque is also an employee at the Decatur Krystal. He was charged with two counts of capital murder.
Police have a second person of interest in questioning. They are searching for a third person of interest.
Investigators said the victims were shot multiple times with a 9 mm handgun.
Investigators said the lobby of the restaurant closed around midnight, but the drive-thru is open 24 hours a day. The last sale was registered at 3 a.m. and the bodies were found at 5 a.m.
“We are saddened by the tragedy at our restaurant and we are assisting and cooperating with the local authorities as best possible,” said a representative from the Krystal Company. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families.”
Source:WAFF
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport worker dies trapped under hydraulic lift www.privateofficer.com
ATLANTA GA Aug 4 2011 — An employee who became trapped under a hydraulic lift at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has died, an airport representative said.
The airport representative said the accident happened at about 4 p.m. on Tuesday in the north cargo area.
Channel 2′s Amy Napier Viteri said crews recovered the body of 29-year-old Eric Lee, of Cartersville, shortly after 7 p.m. She spoke to Atlanta Fire-Rescue Deputy Chief Randall Slaughter about the possible cause.
“All we know for sure is that the loading dock did in fact collapse. We’re not sure how it collapsed, or why it collapsed,” said Slaughter.
A witness emailed Channel 2 Action News pictures from the scene.
Fire officials said Lee was semi-conscious when they got here and they could see him. Crews tried to go in quickly and get him out, but the dock was too heavy and the access too narrow.
At some point, crews said Lee became unconscious. They ended up using a heavy duty crane to lift the dock off Lee. A medical helicopter was standing by to take Lee to the hospital, but he had already died.
“It’s really difficult on the firefighters to go through a rescue like this and it not end in the way we all hoped it would”, Slaughter said.
Source:WSBTV.com
Louisville teen dies of heat stroke after being refused emergency treatment family says www.privateofficer.com
Cody Johns became disoriented after working outside all day and was taken by his stepfather and another co-worker to the Norton care center in the Westport Village shopping center.
But care-center staff never treated him, according to Eddie Robinson, a Deputy Jefferson County Coroner who interviewed the stepfather, whose named has not been released.
Instead, the stepfather had to call 911, with emergency crews arrived within 8 minutes and transported Johns to Norton Suburban Hospital, according to Robinson. Medical staff measured John’s body temperature at 110 degrees, treating him for more than hour before pronouncing him dead at 7:20 p.m, he said.
Norton Chief Medical Officer Dr. Steve Hester, rebutted claims Friday that Johns was denied care at the care center, saying the teen never entered the facility so medical personnel could evaluate him.
“It’s a tragic situation,” Hester said. “We did not deny treatment to the patient.”
Johns family declined to speak with The Courier-Journal. But Eddie Robinson, a deputy Jefferson County coroner, said Johns’ stepfather related a much different version of events.
He told Robinson that Johns was working outside all day with his stepfather, who was doing landscaping work for a property-management company at a site near Brownsboro Road and Chamberlain Lane, Robinson said.
He told Robinson that Johns became disorientated from the heat and that sometime before 5:30 p.m. Thursday, they drove him to the immediate-care center off Herr Lane.
Robinson said he was told that a worker from the center came out with a wheelchair but told the stepfather there was told there was nothing the center could do and that Johns needed to go to a hospital emergency room.
But Hester denied that personnel at the immediate-care facility came out of the building or ever saw Johns.
Instead, he said the stepfather came into the office and told staff he had a patient with him, then generally described heat-related illness symptoms.
The urgency was not conveyed,” Hester said. He did not elaborate on what specifics the staff was told other than to say that the family member did not describe a patient in “dire” need.
Hester said at some point the staff member told Johns’ stepfather that the clinic does not give intravenous fluids and the patient should be taken to a hospital.
At that point, the stepfather walked away, Hester said.
“He left before we could fully respond,” he said. Hester said no one from the clinic followed him out because they assumed everyone had left.
Hester said it wasn’t until the Lyndon fire department and Metro EMS arrived in the parking lot that immediate-care center staff realized the patient had never left.
At the time, the care center was staffed by one doctor, two medical assistants and one receptionist, which is full staffing, according to Norton spokesman Tom Johnson.
Lyndon firefighters arrived at 5:39 p.m. and found Johns sitting in a pickup, obviously in need of medical care, Fire Chief Russ Rakestraw said.
Firefighters attended to Johns until the ambulance and a paramedic with Metro EMS arrived at 5:43 p.m., said Dr. Neal Richmond, director of Metro EMS.
Emergency personnel spent about seven minutes working on Johns before leaving for Norton Suburban Hospital, where they arrived at 5:59 p.m.
Johns’ death about an hour later appeared to be consistent with hyperthermia, Robinson said. He had no pre-existing conditions and was not taking any medication that might have contributed to the heat stroke, Robinson said.
Richmond would not comment on what actions the immediate care center should have taken. Nor would he describe the treatment his medical crews gave Johns.
But he said protocol would dictate that the crew place a patient suffering from heat stroke into the ambulance with the air conditioning as high as it would go and begin putting water or saline on the patient’s skin while fanning it off to cool to the body.
Heat takes toll
Robinson said Johns’ stepfather works for a property-management company that does landscaping work at several properties in the northeast Jefferson County area.
Johns was working with the crew Thursday, pulling weeds and picking up trash at the Brownsboro Glen subdivision near Chamberlain Lane.
Robinson said he was told Johns and had been regularly drinking water. By 2 p.m., Johns was complaining of being hot and was sent to go sit in the shade.
By 4 p.m., co-workers noticed that Johns sounded disoriented and they put him into an air-conditioned pickup truck.
When he didn’t improve, he was driven to the immediate-care center, Robinson said.
Bill Smock, an emergency room physician, said he was disturbed that no one from the immediate-care center brought Johns into the air conditioning or made a call to 911.
“Certainly, he needed a hospital,” Smock said, acknowledging that the immediate-care center would not have been the ideal place for Johns to be treated. “But there is an ethical obligation to offer care. They’re floor would have been cooler than the hot sidewalk. They could have poured water over him. You go to a medical facility expecting medical assistance.”
Smock said because of the dangers of heat stroke, which can lead to organ failure and brain damage, cooling a patient quickly is imperative.
“They could have certainly started the cooling process,” Smock said. “There’s certainly an obligation of any medical provider to render care.”
Hester insisted that his staff would never turn away a patient in need, but they had not been given enough information by Johns’ family to know that his situation was serious.
“Clearly, communication of the urgency of the situation was a challenge here,” Hester said. “Unfortunately, in this situation, we never got the chance to treat.”
Hester said Norton officials interviewed the working staff and will continue to look at the incident to see what can be learned from it.
Quick reaction needed
Richmond said with the extended extreme heat in Louisville, it is important for people to be vigilant for any symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
“For anybody, if you suspect it, you should push the panic button,” Richmond said. “You don’t have a lot of time to cool them.”
There have been 226 heat-related calls to EMS since July 1, compared with 38 during the same period last year. Additionally, Richmond said many other calls for medical emergencies may have involved heat as a contributor.
Smock said people underestimate the severity of heat stroke and how quickly it can turn deadly.
Medically, heat stroke occurs when the body reaches a temperature of 105 degrees. But symptoms of heat exhaustion develop well before, Smock said.
When the core temperatures rises, the body begins to “cook” itself, with muscles and cells dying. That can lead to organ and brain damage.
Signs of heat stroke “can’t be ignored when we’ve had the kind of conditions we’ve been having,” Smock said.
Source:Louisville Courier Jornal
TJ Maxx employee arrested for internal theft www.privateofficer.com
Bayonne NJ May 23 2011 A 27-year-old employee of TJ Maxx on LeFante Way in Bayonne has been charged with stealing money from the store.
Bayonne police officers said that Pamela I. Ossipove was arrested last Friday after she was spotted on store video cameras taking money.
An investigation has been ongoing at the store for the past month, after $580.96 was stolen on April 16, with thefts continuing until Friday. It all at least $3,000 was taken, police said.
Ossipove – who was released on a summons – would process a return without a customer, make fraudulent receipts and then pocket the cash, reports said.
Source:NJ.com
Former Bushnell University employee charged in copper thefts www.privateofficer.com
LEWISBURG PA April 30 2011 — Six thousand, two hundred pounds of copper can bring in a lot of cash. It also brought felony burglary and trespass charges against a 27-year-old Watsontown man accused of stealing copper wire from a Bucknell University facility.
Shawn M. Hoffman, a former student employee for Bucknell’s Facilities Department, was arraigned recently by District Judge Leo S. Armbruster on charges of stealing copper wire from a storage barn on the Lewisburg campus between last fall and March 3. He is out on $25,000 bail and faces a preliminary hearing May 5.
University police arrested Hoffman April 19. He took the stolen wire, worth about $21,000, to Staiman’s Recycling Center in Williamsport, police said.
Felony charges include burglary, criminal trespass and breaking into a structure and receiving stolen property. Hoffman also faces misdemeanor charges of theft by unlawful taking and possession of an instrument of crime with intent.
Bucknell police did not return a call seeking comment before press time Thursday.
This is the third copper theft in the Valley within the past four months. In late December, a vacant former orphanage in Upper Augusta Township, Northumberland County, had 2,000 feet of copper pipe stolen. In early January, two Milton men were charged with theft after they allegedly were caught with copper pipe and tools in their possession. The two incidents are unrelated.
Copper’s value has climbed steady for the past few years, fueling a black market for the material that has stoked copper thefts. Abandoned buildings and homes are popular targets for thieves, who break in and strip copper pipes and cable.
However, recently, the price of copper has hit a slump because of the U.S. economy, Reuters reported Thursday. While it finished on the New York Mercantile Exchange and Commodity Exchange at $4.26 per pound, that is down from a record high in February of $4.65 a pound.
That drop in price for the base metal came after U.S. gross domestic product for the first quarter slowed to a 1.8 percent annual pace, according to Reuters.
Source:Daily Item
Worker falls to their death at Kennedy Space Center www.privateofficer.com
Florida March 14 2011 A United Space Alliance employee who fell to his death this morning while working on Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center was identified this afternoon.
USA engineer James D. Vanover, died this morning after a fall at Launch Pad 39A.
“Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to the family of Mr. Vanover,” United Space Alliance Chief Executive Officer Virginia Barnes said in a statement. “Our focus right now is on providing support for the family, and for his coworkers. We are also providing our full support to investigating officials in order to determine the cause of the incident as quickly as possible. Until that investigation is complete, it would be inappropriate to provide further comment on the details.”
Details about how the man fell, or what he was doing prior to the fall, remains unclear, said NASA spokeswoman Candrea Thomas.
NASA emergency medical personnel responded to the pad at about 7:40 a.m. and tried to revive the man, but were unsuccessful. An investigation into the accident is now being launched.
All work on the launch pad has been suspended while the man’s death is investigated, Thomas said. She declined to release the man’s name because his family has not yet been notified.
Workers are being offered counseling and other services, NASA said in a statement.
“Right now our focus is on our workers and for the family of the USA employee,” the statement said.
The pad is the site of next month’s space Endeavor space shuttle launch. Six astronauts are scheduled to lift off on April 19.
Thomas said the schedule has six additional days included in the pad schedule to accommodate delays in work.
In March 2006, a construction worker fell to his death after tripping over a wire on a roof. Steven Owens, 51, was transported to a local hospital, where he later died.
Source:Orlando Sentinel
Disney worker killed repairing roller coaster www.privateofficer.com
The worker, identified as 52-year-old Russell Sherry Roscoe of Webster, suffered head injuries Sunday while working on ride at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and was airlifted to Orlando Regional Medical Center, according to the sheriff’s office. He died there this morning.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Monday opened an investigation into the accident. No details have been released about the incident, which was not witnessed by guests at the theme park.
“Our Walt Disney World community has experienced a tragic loss,” Walt Disney World President Meg Crofton said in a prepared statement. “We extend our heartfelt condolences to Russ Roscoe’s family and we are working to assist them during this difficult time; our thoughts and our prayers are with them.”
Crofton added, “There is no higher priority than the safety of our cast and our guests, and we will work with authorities to thoroughly review every aspect of this incident.
The death is the second associated with the ride.
In November 2007, Disney worker Karen Price, 63, was working on an elevated rider-loading platform when she was struck by one of the roller coaster vehicles. She died five days later.
After her death, Disney renovated the Primeval Whirl ride and installed sensors to prevent a similar accident occurring in the same area of the ride.
In 2008, federal investigators faulted Disney for five safety violations and fined the company $21,000 for the accident that caused Price’s death.
In the most recent accident, Webster was working in an area of the Primeval Whirl known as “the dip,” according to a 911 call released by Reedy Creek Fire District, Walt Disney World’s municipal fire department.
“We need somebody right now,” a co-worker told a 911 dispatcher. “One of our maintenance guys got hit by a moving vehicle…He got in the way of a moving vehicle.”
Webster, who suffered a massive head injury, was given first-aid care by his co-workers as they waited for Reedy Creek paramedics to reach the accident.
“We’re trying to keep him conscious,” the unidentified co-worker told 911, before encouraging Webster to remain conscious. “Stay with us, man.”
