County Elevator Operator Crushed to Death

An elevator operator was crushed to death Friday at the Hall of Justice jail in downtown Los Angeles when she was caught between a descending car and a building floor.

Doris T. Sims, 64, of Los Angeles, suffered head injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene on the 10th floor of the county building where she worked a manually operated freight elevator for eight years, Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said.

Sims would have turned 65 in January, sheriff’s officials said. She told colleagues on Monday that she had picked up an application for retirement.

County employees in the building were shaken by the accident that took the life of the feisty but endearing Sims.

“One day we were riding in the elevator and she asked if I had pictures of my kids,” Sheriff’s Deputy Nick Cannis said as he filled in for a bereaved elevator operator who left her shift early.

“She told me: ‘I got a photo album going of all the deputies’ kids. One day I can look back at those children and see the faces of all the deputies I ever worked with.’ Yeah, Miss Sims was real close with a lot of the people here. She considered us all a part of her family.”

Several operators said Sims had talked with them about minor problems she had with the cantankerous elevator system. Administrators in the vintage 1924 building told operators that an investigation into the accident was under way.

“This was where she and I had our gab sessions,” said a 30-year veteran operator, John J. Countee, 64, as he opened his elevator door on a deserted first floor.

“She was rich with humor, you might say. That’s why I always looked for Miss Sims here in the mornings.”