The Region - News from July 28, 1985

A Costa Mesa woman has sued the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway and the state for $5 million, claiming that a fall from a viewing area damaged her brain. An attorney for Cheryl McKendry, 24, said his client now has the mental capacity of a 5-year-old and cannot care for herself. McKendry and a companion, Michael Thomas Leib, of Marina del Rey had taken the tram up from Palm Springs to Mt. San Jacinto Park where they fell asleep near a viewing area. While sleeping, McKendry rolled under a protective railing and fell 250 feet down the mountainside. The Riverside Superior Court lawsuit claims that the railing failed to protect the public and allowed McKendry to fall, causing the brain damage. Bob Foster, chief ranger at the park, contends that McKendry climbed beyond the guard railing when she fell.