Police: Ride workers knew Iraq vet had no legs
Iraq war veteran Sgt. James T. Hackemer is seen after being awarded a van from proceeds raised by Help Our Military Heroes, March 2011 in Beltsville, Md. (AP/Help Our Military Heroes)
(CBS/AP) BATAVIA, N.Y. - Police say the death of a legless Iraq war veteran who was thrown from a roller coaster in upstate New York was an accident but say the man never should have been allowed on the ride and workers violated park policy.
Genesee County Sheriff Gary Maha says signs at the Ride of Steel roller coaster at Darien Lake Theme Park & Resort clearly state riders "must have two legs."
Maha said park operators clearly violated that policy but investigators found no criminal activity, including intent, and they would not face criminal charges. Civil liability could be determined later if a lawsuit is filed, he said.
Sgt. James Hackemer, 29, died Friday when he was thrown from the last -- and second highest -- of three hills on the coaster. He fell about 150 feet and landed on grass.
Video: Tragedy for vet on roller coaster
Maha says Hackemer "didn't have the physical attributes" to hold him in the ride. He says the operators knew he was a double amputee but allowed him aboard anyway.
Hackemer, a father of two from Gowanda, N.Y., lost his right leg below his knee and his left leg at his hip in a roadside bomb explosion while he was deployed in 2008. He suffered two strokes and spent six weeks in a coma, after which he had to relearn to eat and speak. He had been living with his parents.
"It's going to help a little bit that he was happy," his mother, Nancy Hackemer, told The Buffalo News. "We shouldn't have had him for these last three years and four months."
She said the family had recently returned from the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, in Washington, D.C., where her son got "a new set of legs."
"He was assisted onto the ride," she said. "He was doing what he wanted to do."
The park's website describes the Ride of Steel as one of the tallest coasters east of the Mississippi River, climbing 208 feet and reaching speeds in excess of 70 mph.
Amusement park industry consultant Dennis Speigel said two things should be considered when determining whether someone should be allowed on a ride.
"One is rider responsibility and then there is operator responsibility, and those two issues have to homogenize," Speigel said Sunday. "This just seems to me that it was a bad decision on both parts."
Hackemer's relatives have said they don't hold the park responsible for his death.
Although an investigation of the accident is incomplete, Speigel, who is not involved in the probe, wondered whether Hackemer's military service played a role in the decision to allow the ride.
Parks in general are sensitive to the military, he said, with many offering significant discounts and ticket giveaways to service members and their families. As of July 5, since the start of U.S. military operations in Iraq, 32,130 U.S. service members have been wounded in hostile action, according to the Department of Defense's weekly tally.
"Here we have a situation where that individual has seen some pretty incredible things, I would imagine, and if I had to guess, was saying, ]I can ride this. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine.' And then you begin dealing with the forces of physics and it's a whole different situation," said Speigel, a past president of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, a trade association.