Stadium Worker Plunges 4 Stories in Elevator Shaft

A worker at Anaheim Stadium was critically injured Saturday when he crashed a cart through the doors of an elevator shaft, fell about 45 feet and was trapped for more than an hour.

Scott Mills, 17, of Orange was driving an electric cart on the top level of the stadium when he apparently drove headlong into the doors of a service elevator, collapsing them, and fell four floors to the bottom sometime between 1 and 2:30 p.m., said Anaheim Police spokeswoman Sheri Erlewine.

The elevator car was at the field level. Mills fell on top of it.

Sounds of Fall Muffled

The concrete walls of the stadium and the roar of motorcycle crews warming up for an evening motocross competition muffled the sounds of the fall, she said, and no witnesses have been found.

Workers called the Fire Department to investigate a “toxic odor” coming from the shaft. Firefighters discovered Mills and began a rescue effort that took about an hour and 15 minutes and involved at least 20 firefighters, including the city’s hazardous materials unit.

Rescue efforts were complicated by battery acid that had spilled from the motor of the electric cart, Erlewine said. After the rescue, the crews washed off in plastic wading pools.

Severe Head, Facial Injuries

Mills was unconscious, with severe head and facial injuries, when firefighters pulled him from the shaft at 3:45 p.m., Erlewine said. “The cart landed partially on top of him,” she said.

Mills was taken to UC Irvine Medical Center, where he was reported in critical condition Saturday evening. A hospital spokesman said doctors in the trauma unit were concerned about possible acid burns.

The cause of the accident remains unknown.

Mills is not an Anaheim Stadium employee, but was working there as a private paint contractor for the concession operator.