A roller coaster-related death at Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio, this week grounded its popular Raptor ride after a man jumped a fence into a restricted area to look for his cellphone.
Authorities pronounced James A. Young, 45, of East Canton, Ohio, dead at the scene as investigators continue to look into the accident. Sandusky Police said that they believe Young was trying to find a phone he had dropped on the
ride when he was struck, according to the Sandusky Register.
Investigators said they are not sure if Young was hit by the ride or someone on the ride. Police said Young had just finished riding the Raptor with friends when he jumped a fence under the ride.
The Raptor is a steel inverted roller coaster which reaches top speeds of
57 miles per hour, according to the Cedar Point website.
It was the second accident in three months involving the Raptor.
In June, a man claimed, according to WKYC-TV, that a gate on the ride's loading platform closed on his leg when he tried to board the roller coaster.
Theron Dannemiller told the television station he needed 11 stitches from the injury he sustained on the ride.
"I know how the rides operate," Dannemiller told WKYC-TV. "I know how those gates operate. I know to wait behind the yellow line. I know to not squeeze through the gate. The gates were open. I was looking at the seats we were going to sit in, and as I was walking through that is when it closed, and it pinned me."
In its own statement, the park blamed the rider for the injury.
"Cedar Point's safety team responded to a report of a guest who had injured their lower leg while attempting to squeeze through an already closing safety gate on the loading platform of the Raptor roller coaster," the Cedar Point's statement said.
"The guest was treated immediately at the scene and transported to a local hospital for further evaluation. All of the park's safety systems operated properly and the ride opened as normal this morning," the statement continued.
The Register said the accident happened after a rally connected with the LeBron James Family Foundation events at the park but did not believe Young was part of the foundation events.
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