August 20, 2010 10:10 AM
- Text
Park "Repairs" at Crime Scene Where Girl Fell
(CBS)
In addition to the investigation into an amusement park ride operator's actions over a 12-year-old's horrific accident on a freefall ride called Terminal Velocity, authorities are now scrutinizing the Wisconsin park where it occurred.
Park Ride Victim's Father: "She Was Dead"
Park Ride Worker Who Dropped Girl Is Back on Job
In a report obtained by CBS News, police say they are looking into suspicious activity from several other workers at the small amusement park called Extreme World in Wisconsin Dells. Police stated they observed workers "repairing the ride" where Teagan Marti fell two weeks after the accident. The report says the workers were making the repairs around 2 a.m. The ride is, and was then, considered a closed crime scene.
The ride became a crime scene after Teagan fell 10 stories and slammed into the ground on July 30. Safety nets were not in place before Teagan was released from a harness. CBS News National Correspondent Ben Tracy reported on "The Early Show" Friday that Teagan wound up with a fractured spine and pelvis, swelling on her brain, and lacerations to her spleen.
It's been more than two weeks and Teagan has yet to talk and is still in a Wisconsin hospital room.
On "The Early Show" Friday, Teagan's father, Dr. Alex Marti, said his daughter is in critical, yet stable condition. He said she can now communicate by blinking once for a "yes" and not blinking for a "no."
Doctors say she could be paralyzed.
The ride operator, 33-year-old Charles Carnell, admits he "blanked out" and removed Teagan's harness before the safety nets below were in place to catch her. He is charged with first-degree reckless injury and faces 25 years in prison if convicted. But prosecutors need to show he had utter disregard for human life.
Carnell's lawyer, Chris Van Wagner, said on "The Early Show" Thursday prosecutors have a tough case to make.
He said, "They have to show not that he had one of those moments where he said "Oh my God what did I do?' but rather, 'I don't really give a darn what happens next,' and there is a big difference there."
CBS News Legal Analyst Lisa Bloom said, "Usually that's something like taking a loaded gun and waving it around and firing it into the air -- it's a very high standard legally."
Tracy pointed out Carnell's lawyer says his client is a dedicated worker who simply had a bad day.
According to Van Wagner, "It's awful, it's terrible, but we don't think it's criminal."
Stuart Grossman, attorney for Teagan Marti and her family, said on "The Early Show" Friday, "In terms of the civil case, the negligence is absolutely clear. With respect to what his attorney said yesterday, that he blanked at the time of this incident, when did he blank? What does that term mean? He had to remove the safety harness from Teagan. He had to unfasten it. Then he had to put it down, he had to move over and release her. These are conscious acts. You hardly are blanking during that period of time. You're doing something. You're doing something affirmative. What he did, in my opinion, does show an utter disregard for human life. Especially when you add to the fact that he has admitted that he never looked down to see if the nets were in place. How can that be thought of as anything other than an utter disregard for her life?"
But what about the park? What were they doing to the ride at 2 a.m.?
Grossman said he wrote a letter to the park on August 3, stating that the ride not be "altered, repaired, modified or changed to any degree whatsoever unless and until we have had an adequate opportunity to examine, inspect and photograph such ride."
He wrote further, "Any such change shall be deemed to be destruction of critical evidence and we will not hesitate to proceed and pursue any and all causes of action directly related thereto in the event the ride is modified in any way."
Grossman said on "Early Show," "The police report itself says that the manager admitted that the arms that are used to elevate this machine were hopelessly rusted. That they hadn't been repaired in over eight years. Maintained. And we have on absolute authority that they also put a red tape marking how high the platform should have been lifted that would have engaged the nets. A simple safety matter that could have been done by the manufacturer, by the ride operator, at any time prior to this incident."
Grossman said the work that was being done was a direct result of Teagan's accident.
He said, "Let me say this: You don't do maintenance at 2:00 in the morning, OK? Especially after you've received a letter from a child's lawyer saying, 'don't alter this machine, don't do any repairs.' What is that? If not something."
In response, Grossman said he received a letter back Thursday afternoon from the amusement park's insurance company's lawyer, "saying all they did, all they were doing was putting a piece of red tape at the appropriate height."
Grossman added, "They asked me if I wanted to take it off. I said, 'absolutely not. Leave it there. So if they ever do reopen this ride, this won't happen again, hopefully.' But I certainly didn't expect them to do repairs to the structure at 2:00 in the morning. Fortunately, the police came by, saw this and documented it and were grateful for all they've done."
Park Ride Victim's Father: "She Was Dead"
Park Ride Worker Who Dropped Girl Is Back on Job
In a report obtained by CBS News, police say they are looking into suspicious activity from several other workers at the small amusement park called Extreme World in Wisconsin Dells. Police stated they observed workers "repairing the ride" where Teagan Marti fell two weeks after the accident. The report says the workers were making the repairs around 2 a.m. The ride is, and was then, considered a closed crime scene.
The ride became a crime scene after Teagan fell 10 stories and slammed into the ground on July 30. Safety nets were not in place before Teagan was released from a harness. CBS News National Correspondent Ben Tracy reported on "The Early Show" Friday that Teagan wound up with a fractured spine and pelvis, swelling on her brain, and lacerations to her spleen.
It's been more than two weeks and Teagan has yet to talk and is still in a Wisconsin hospital room.
On "The Early Show" Friday, Teagan's father, Dr. Alex Marti, said his daughter is in critical, yet stable condition. He said she can now communicate by blinking once for a "yes" and not blinking for a "no."
Doctors say she could be paralyzed.
The ride operator, 33-year-old Charles Carnell, admits he "blanked out" and removed Teagan's harness before the safety nets below were in place to catch her. He is charged with first-degree reckless injury and faces 25 years in prison if convicted. But prosecutors need to show he had utter disregard for human life.
Carnell's lawyer, Chris Van Wagner, said on "The Early Show" Thursday prosecutors have a tough case to make.
He said, "They have to show not that he had one of those moments where he said "Oh my God what did I do?' but rather, 'I don't really give a darn what happens next,' and there is a big difference there."
CBS News Legal Analyst Lisa Bloom said, "Usually that's something like taking a loaded gun and waving it around and firing it into the air -- it's a very high standard legally."
Tracy pointed out Carnell's lawyer says his client is a dedicated worker who simply had a bad day.
According to Van Wagner, "It's awful, it's terrible, but we don't think it's criminal."
Stuart Grossman, attorney for Teagan Marti and her family, said on "The Early Show" Friday, "In terms of the civil case, the negligence is absolutely clear. With respect to what his attorney said yesterday, that he blanked at the time of this incident, when did he blank? What does that term mean? He had to remove the safety harness from Teagan. He had to unfasten it. Then he had to put it down, he had to move over and release her. These are conscious acts. You hardly are blanking during that period of time. You're doing something. You're doing something affirmative. What he did, in my opinion, does show an utter disregard for human life. Especially when you add to the fact that he has admitted that he never looked down to see if the nets were in place. How can that be thought of as anything other than an utter disregard for her life?"
But what about the park? What were they doing to the ride at 2 a.m.?
Grossman said he wrote a letter to the park on August 3, stating that the ride not be "altered, repaired, modified or changed to any degree whatsoever unless and until we have had an adequate opportunity to examine, inspect and photograph such ride."
He wrote further, "Any such change shall be deemed to be destruction of critical evidence and we will not hesitate to proceed and pursue any and all causes of action directly related thereto in the event the ride is modified in any way."
Grossman said on "Early Show," "The police report itself says that the manager admitted that the arms that are used to elevate this machine were hopelessly rusted. That they hadn't been repaired in over eight years. Maintained. And we have on absolute authority that they also put a red tape marking how high the platform should have been lifted that would have engaged the nets. A simple safety matter that could have been done by the manufacturer, by the ride operator, at any time prior to this incident."
Grossman said the work that was being done was a direct result of Teagan's accident.
He said, "Let me say this: You don't do maintenance at 2:00 in the morning, OK? Especially after you've received a letter from a child's lawyer saying, 'don't alter this machine, don't do any repairs.' What is that? If not something."
In response, Grossman said he received a letter back Thursday afternoon from the amusement park's insurance company's lawyer, "saying all they did, all they were doing was putting a piece of red tape at the appropriate height."
Grossman added, "They asked me if I wanted to take it off. I said, 'absolutely not. Leave it there. So if they ever do reopen this ride, this won't happen again, hopefully.' But I certainly didn't expect them to do repairs to the structure at 2:00 in the morning. Fortunately, the police came by, saw this and documented it and were grateful for all they've done."
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