Ride operator pleads guilty in NC State Fair mishap
RALEIGH, N.C. -- The operator of a ride that malfunctioned and injured a family at the North Carolina State Fair in 2013 pleaded guilty Monday to charges of assault with a deadly weapon, reports CBS affiliate WRAL.
Timothy Tutterrow, 48, admitted to altering the ride called The Vortex and has been cooperating with authorities.
"That will serve him well with this court," Judge Donald Stephens said Monday.
Tutterrow and ride owner Joshua Gene Macaroni were each charged with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury. Tutterrow pleaded guilty Monday to his counts, and he will testify against Macaroni if necessary, his lawyer said.
Sentencing was expected at a later date, Freeman said.
Five people were injured on Oct. 24, 2103, when the ride started up unexpectedly as people were trying to disembark. Anthony Gorham suffered brain, skull, neck and spinal cord injuries as a result and spent nearly four months in a local hospital. His wife, Alisha Gorham, and her son and her niece were also seriously injured.
The family sued Powers Great American Midways, which ran the state fair, Family Attractions Amusement LLC, the Georgia company that brought the Vortex to the fair, ride owner Macaroni and operator Tutterrow. That civil suit was settled last month, and the particulars are confidential.
The family was asking for $150 million in the suit, including $100 million in punitive damages, arguing that the defendants were more interested in making money than they were in ride-goers' safety.
The criminal investigation found that a safety mechanism designed to keep The Vortex from moving had been disabled.
Prosecutor Howard Cummings told the court Monday that it didn't appear that Tutterrow intentionally started the ride to cause the accident.
He inadvertently pushed the button," Cummings said. "If safety measures were in place, this would not have happened."