Bizarre Coaster Accident Kills Hayward Man at Great America

1998-09-08 04:00:00 PDT SANTA CLARA -- A man trying to retrieve a cap from under the tracks of a high- speed roller coaster was struck and killed yesterday in a bizarre accident at Paramount's Great America amusement park in Santa Clara.

The victim, identified as 25- year-old Hector Mendoza of Hayward, had gotten off the Top Gun roller coaster about 2:30 p.m. and apparently climbed over a chain- link fence to retrieve his cap in an area that is off-limits to park visitors, Santa Clara police said.

As he was getting the cap, the Top Gun ride passed overhead and he was hit in the head by the dangling foot of a woman riding the coaster. Paramedics rushed him to Valley Medical Center, where he died about an hour later.

Top Gun, which opened in 1993, is a Swiss-made inverted steel roller coaster with floorless coaches suspended below the track. Passengers ride, with their legs dangling, at speeds of as high as 50 miles an hour. A ride lasts two minutes and 26 seconds.

After getting off the ride, Mendoza had pushed open a door marked "Employees Only," park officials said.

Then he climbed the fence and "entered a secured area to go after his hat," Sergeant Anton Morec said. "It was a freak accident, a terrible tragedy."

The coaster rider, 28-year-old Jessica Medina of San Jose, was treated for a fractured right leg at Valley Medical Center.

The Top Gun ride was shut down for the day, but the park remained open. The black cap lay on the ground in the shadow of the coaster track, with a police evidence tag on it.

Mendoza, who had moved to Hayward from the state of Jalisco in Mexico, worked for a window company. He was visiting the park with his wife of two months and his brother-in-law.

At the family home in Hayward, relatives were distraught.

"It's very sad," said Jose Ledezma, the victim's uncle. "He was a nice guy. Just got married. It is sad for someone to die at his age."

It was the third fatality in Great America's history. In 1989, a 9-year-old boy was killed when he fell under a fiberglass log on a water ride. In 1980, a 13-year-old boy was killed on the Willard's Whizzer roller coaster after two trains collided.

In another accident on Willard's Whizzer in 1982, 16 people were injured when a train with worn wheels rolled backwards into another train at the loading station.

Park officials would not allow reporters to speak to patrons or employees inside the park yesterday. Public relations manager Timothy Chanaud said it would "ruin their day."

In the parking lot, departing patron Ruben Ramirez was shocked to learn about the accident from bystanders. He said the park had made no announcement.

"They should close the ride," he said. "And there must be more security."

Chanaud said precautions at the ride were adequate, pointing out that there was a sign in place on the door and no holes or gaps in the fence surrounding the area where Mendoza was struck. He said the park plans to reopen the Top Gun ride to visitors on Saturday, the next day the park is scheduled to be open.