A Navy family filed a lawsuit this week against an amusement company that operated a carnival ride which toppled over during the Fourth of July carnival in Oak Harbor last year.
The accident made regional news at the time. On the evening of July 3, the Cyclone Swing tipped, injuring six riders. A city press release at the time described the injuries as minor.
Oak Harbor attorney John Bonin filed the complaint in Island County Superior Court July 2 on behalf of clients Jonathan and Carmen Echevarria, as well as their minor child. The lawsuit names Paradise Amusements Inc. as the defendant. It accuses the company of negligently causing injuries, pain and distress.
Bonin said this week that the timing of the lawsuit, which was filed the same week the carnival returns to Oak Harbor, was not purposeful, but that the case was just ready to move forward. He said he had no comment about whether he may represent others in similar lawsuits.
The lawsuit describes a harrowing experience for the family. Jonathan Echevarria took his daughter on the “swing ride” while Carmen Echevarria took their other daughter on a different ride.
Jonathan Echevarria and his daughter both observed the ride “skipping” while they were on it. He looked down at the ride footings and noticed that the skipping was coming from a leg meant to stabilize the ride, the lawsuit states.
The leg was resting, periodically, on a 4-foot-by-4-foot block of wood and making a very audible noise with each skip. The leg was moving free from the block.
“Jonathan looked at the attendant who collected their ticket and noticed the attendant was inattentive to the condition of the ride and the noise being made,” the lawsuit states. “In fact, the ride attendant was otherwise engaged in conversation with another carnival patron.”
Both Jonathan Echevarria and his daughter felt the ride begin to teeter several times before it “ultimately and violently collapsed,” the lawsuit states.
Father and daughter fell to the ground and impacted “other pieces of the now-crumbling ride,” the report states.
Carmen Echevarria and the younger daughter had returned to watch the Cyclone Swing after their ride ended and saw the swing ride tip over. She started searching for her daughter and saw emergency responders rush to help her husband, who had a head injury that was “spurting out blood,” the lawsuit states. He suffered a permanent scar from a laceration to his forehead.
The claim states that Carmen Echevarria and her minor daughter suffered significant emotional distress from the event.
The lawsuit asks for damages from personal injury, emotional distress, pain and suffering, as well as other damages to be proven at trial.
Bonin said that neither the Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce, which hosts the city’s Fourth of July celebration, nor the city of Oak Harbor were named in the lawsuit. He said his investigation found no negligence on behalf of those agencies.
Immediately following the accident last year, Oak Harbor Mayor Ronnie Wright shut down the mechanical rides at the carnival.
The chamber of commerce announced on July 5 that the carnival was open following “a thorough inspection and rigorous safety checks.” A city official, Paradise Amusements and a third-party inspector performed the safety checks on 12 rides.
The city and the chamber of commerce had no comment on the lawsuit. Paradise Amusements did not return a request for comment.
