Ohio State Fair ride accident: 'Bodies falling all over,' but no charges
COLUMBUS - If not for a last-minute change, Tyler Jarrell might still be alive.
Jarrell and three others – including his girlfriend, University of Cincinnati student Keziah Lewis – were switched into their ill-fated seats from a different gondola just moments before an Ohio State Fair ride ripped apart on July 26. Minutes later, the orange gondola would crack and send Jarrell flying 50 feet into the air to his death.
No one will face criminal charges for Jarrell's death after the Fire Ball ride broke apart, seriously injuring seven other riders. A mere failure to perceive and avoid a risk – the apparently corroding, rusty arm that ultimately cracked – doesn't warrant criminal charges, Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien said in a memo.
Inspectors and ride operators did their jobs, following established rules, an Ohio State Highway Patrol investigation concluded.
A photo of the Fire Ball, taken by a fair attendee shortly before the ride failed, appeared to show a crack running across the back of the gondola, in the same area where the ride later broke apart. Investigators showed the image to ride operators and inspectors, who said they had not noticed the crack.
And if they had?
"I would have taken a closer look, that’s all I have to say,” state ride inspector Jon Kaufman told a Highway Patrol investigator.
Jarrell's family could press the issue: Should someone have found the weakness in the 18-year-old ride sooner? They have hired attorneys to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit.
Ohio fair ride accident: Eyes-only inspection didn’t see corrosion
Switching seats, a loose harness
Ride operator Cesar Martinez was having trouble fitting riders into their seats. One of the riders was a little overweight and slouching, making it difficult to secure the safety harness. He ultimately decided to swap the rider and three others into a different gondola, according to a 62-page report released by the state patrol Thursday after investigators interviewed nearly 80 witnesses.
Inspectors from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission would later find "a good amount of rust and corrosion" inside the swinging arm that held that gondola, the report said. At the time, ride inspectors and operators said, it seemed fine.
Jarrell, a Columbus resident who had enlisted in the U.S. Marines just five days earlier; his 19-year-old girlfriend, Lewis; Russell Franks, 42, of Columbus; and Tamika Dunlap, 36, of Reynoldsburg, were all swapped into the fated orange gondola.
Jacob Andrews, 22, of Pataskala, was seated in another gondola with his girlfriend, Jennifer Lambert, 18, of Columbus. Lambert complained that her harness was too loose, but a ride operator told her that was normal, Andrews later told investigators.
How a day at the Ohio State Fair turned tragic
Martinez started the ride, pressing his foot on the pedal. It increased in speed: 15 percent. 40 percent. 100 percent. Some riders complained of shaking and asked to get off. Martinez told investigators that the ride felt normal. "Once you operate the ride for a long period of time, he becomes one with the ride and can feel if something isn't right," investigators said, describing the interview with Martinez.
But something wasn't right. The orange gondola struck the deck, hitting a red bar, then came loose, according to the report.
'I couldn't do anything but watch'
"BOOM."
Martinez told investigators it sounded like an explosion as the gondola detached and sent Jarrell and Lewis flying. Franks and Dunlap were trapped inside the gondola and needed rescue workers to set them free. Jarrell was pronounced dead at 7:30 p.m.
In the other gondola, as the ride broke apart, Andrews screamed out in pain. His leg was hurting. It wasn't until the ride slowed that he opened his eyes, unsure of what had gone wrong. Lambert wasn't responding. As recently as one week ago, she remained in a coma, said Lt. Robert Sellers of the Highway Patrol.
Andrews heard his fellow passengers yelling: Let us off the ride!
As the ride broke, at least one operator ran away. "He felt bad about the accident," the report said of Juan Osorio, a ride operator who was returning from his break. Martinez ran after him, then later returned to let people off the ride.
Duwan Dowdy, a 22-year-old midway employee who was helping with the ride, was riding the Fire Ball when it broke apart. His sister was "too scared" to stay on the thrill ride. "Man, she was suppose (sic) to be on that car. She would have been dead right now," Dowdy told a trooper.
"Everything just happened, bodies falling all over. I just closed my eyes," Dowdy said. "I couldn't do anything but watch."